Lights, Camera, Action!
by shards-o'-toast
Summary: After breaking his ankle, and isn't able to play basketball, Troy is a film director. Little does he know, his old high school sweetheart, Gabriella Montez, is one of the actresses on his set. Troyella. Ch. 1 sucks, but the rest are good! full summ inside
1. Gabriella Montez?

**After shattering his ankle in a skiing accident, and is no longer able to play basketball, Troy becomes a film director. Little does he know, the once love of his life, Gabriella Montez, is one of the actresses on his set. He also gets a big surprise from an old high school classmate.**

**Hey Guys! this is my first Fanfic! R/R, and tell me what you think!**

* * *

Troy woke up very happy one day. He loved these kinds of days, the days where he gets to star filming his movie. There's a thrill, and an excitement in not knowing who gets cast for the roles in his movie, and he loves going in to work the first day, and discovering who he'll get to boss around. 

"I love these days", Troy said to himself, as he was sipping his morning coffee. When he finished, He showered, got dressed and drove to the movie set. He always like to get there early, before most of the actors.

* * *

As Troy walked in, people immediately swarmed around him, fulfilling his every need. As soon as he settled down, he called for his assistant, Angie.

"Angie! Can you come here please?" Troy called.

"Sure! I'm coming right now!" Angie replied. Troy wasn't like any of the other directors she'd worked for before. Troy was always understanding of her problems, and never raised his voice at her, or anyone for that matter. He instantly made friends with anyone that he met. With that handsome smile, and gorgeous dark blue eyes, no one could resist.

"Are any of the actors here yet?" Troy asked.

"No, not yet. I know how much you like to be the first to meet them." Angie answered.

"When they get here, can you-"

"-set up a meeting so you can meet them, like you do on every first day? Of course, I'll get right on it." Angie knew all of Troy's schedules, for he had been working for him on every single movie.

"Thanks, Angie, you're the best!"

* * *

Gabriella woke up very nervous. She always hated the first day of shooting any movie.

"Ugh! I always feel like this on every first day!" She told herself. She finished eating breakfast, showered, and drove to the movie set.

As soon as she got out of her car, she expected people would surround her, doing everything she asked, but nobody noticed her.

"_Huh, that's sort of strange, I usually get loads of attention wherever I go_", she though to herself. _" I guess I'll just go in, and see what to do."_

Gabriella walked onto the set, and scanned to see if she knew anyone, but she didn't recognize anyone, and no one recognized her either. She saw a nice looking woman with brown hair, and decided to try and talk to her.

" Hello, My name is Gabriella Montez. Could you tell me where to go?"

"Hi, Gabriella, I'm Angie. You came to the right person. I'm the director's assistant. He wants to meet all of the actor and actresses, so just go on into this room over here, and I'll tell Mr. Bolton that you're here."

"Thanks!'….._Mr. Bolton?, _Gabriella thought to herself. _This director better not be Troy Bolton! I never want to see him again, after what he did to me!_

_

* * *

Flashback-high school graduation:_

" _I can't believe that we're not in High School anymore!" Gabriella exclaimed._

"_I know! We're free!" Troy said, but not as enthusiastically as Gabriella._

"_I love you Troy Bolton. I am going to call, email, and write you everyday. Even though we'll be in different states, I know we can make this work."_

_Troy didn't move, he had a blank expression on his face._

"_What's wrong, Troy?"_

"_I think we should break up…"_

'_What?" With that, Troy walked away, leaving Gabriella standing there, hurting, and confused._

* * *

Troy heard a knock on his office door.

"Mr. Bolton, one actress is here. I sent her into the conference room."

"Thanks. Is anyone else here yet?"

"No, sorry." Angie answered.

"That's ok, it's still 2 hours before they actually need to get here." Troy started walking towards the conference room. "Hey, Angie? What's the actress's name?"

"Gabriella Montez"

Gabriella Montez? I haven't seen her in 7 years!…Oh, yeah I remember the last time we were together, I broke her heart…crap. This isn't going to be good. Troy thought to himself, as he walked to the room where Gabriella was. He waited outside the door for three minutes, deciding whether or not to actually go in. I guess I should just get this over with! He took a deep breath, and walked in the door

" Hi Gabriella. It's been a long time."

* * *

**Thanks for reading!...Now do the next step and review!! WOOT!** _­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_**How should Gabi react? tell me!**


	2. Gabi, I'm sorry

**After shattering his ankle in a skiing accident, and is no longer able to play basketball, Troy becomes a film director. Little does he know, the once love of his life, Gabriella Montez, is one of the actresses on his set. He also gets a big surprise from an old high school classmate.**

**A/N: Hey guys, err…mostly gals, I'm guessing. Thanks for all of the reviews, but more reviews are welcome!!**

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own High School Musical. (…although I wouldn't mind owning Zac Efron…)**

* * *

"Gabriella, it's been a long time." Troy stated with confidence. Although he wanted to break down and confess his feelings, the stubborn side of him told him to be strong.

"Hello Troy. It has been a very long time. If I recall corrently, seven years without contact could fall under the 'long time' category." She sarcastically. _I need to be strong, don't let him get to you, Gabriella, _She thought.

"You look good…very good." He said, shaking his head up and down.

"Well, I'm not yours to look at, so, stop it." She turned away so Troy could see her profile, and crossed her arms. Secretly, she didn't mind him looking at her.

"So…how did college go?" _crap, crap, crap, that was the wrong question!!!_ Troy seems to think only after he speaks.

"Fine." Although there was much more Gabriella wanted to say, she didn't want to let Troy in.

_Screw this…_"Gabriella, I'm sorry. I know what I did was really jerky, and-"

"HA! 'Jerky' was the best adjective you could come up with? I'll say that stunt you pulled was really shi-"

"Gabriella!" Troy cut her off before she could finish her word. She was never one to swear, not even when she was tremendously angry. "Wow…I never knew you had such a 'colorful' vocabulary." _Crap, crap, crap…jeez, I really suck at this. _"Gabi, I'm really sorry and-"

"Don't you dare call me 'Gabi'!" Gabi was always Troy's little pet name for her.

"Come on, don't do this to me!" Troy was beginning to plead with Gabriella.

"You know what Troy? Just stop trying. After you ripped my heart out, and stomped all over it, I literally thought I was going to die. That's how much you meant to me. I would have done anything for you! I even thought we were going to get married one day! But, you wouldn't believe all of the sleepless nights I had, you wouldn't believe how many tears I cried, hell, you wouldn't believe how much money I spent on buying freaking tissues to dry away the endless tears that YOU caused!" Troy could feel Gabriella anger rising. " But after a couple months of this routine, I finally realized that you, Troy Bolton: The once love of my life, was never going to call, or write, or email, or even send one freaking postcard! So you know what, Troy? Save it! I do NOT need you anymore. I've learned to live withOUT you! Seven years of no contact can do that to a person. So go tell your apologies to someone who cares, because I don't!!!" Gabriella stormed out of the room in a rage, and slammed the door shut.

"Crap. What did I do? I need to find some way to make it up to her…ugh…I'm such a jackass!" Troy sat down and laid his head on the table. He had one hour to try and formulate a plan…

Knock, knock, knock… "Mr. Bolton?" It was Angie, his assistant. "Oh! I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?" she saw him with his head on the table, just sitting there.

"No, no, no, you didn't interrupt anything. I was just sitting here, trying to think." Troy still had his head down, with is face squished against he table.

"Sir, do you need anything? Some water, or coffee?" Angie asked sincerely.

"Um…I don't think so, but thanks." Troy lifted his head up from the table. The side of his face was red, with texture of the table was imprinted on his cheek, and his hair was disheveled.

"Um, Mr. Bolton? You may want to fix your hair, and the side of your face is all red."

"Oh…that's embarrassing." Angie could hear the depression in Troy's voice.

"Are you sure you don't need anything?" She said, stepping closer.

"Yeah, is there anything you wanted to tell me? He said, rubbing the side of his face.

"Oh, yeah! There's another actor here."

"Good. It better not be Sharpay Evans!" He said with a laugh.

"No, It's not Miss Evans, but you're close! Ryan Evans is waiting outside the door. Do you want me to send him in?"

"Actually, I think I'll go out and talk to him." He stopped and looked through the window, finding an 'interesting' sight.

**

* * *

With Gabriella**

_I can't believe I just said all of those things to Troy! I knew I could be strong, although, I shouldn't have yelled at my boss like that. _Gabriella was storming through the set, trying to find a place to calm down, and relax. She found a couch in the hallway, and plopped herself down on it.

_Crap where is it?! Where's my freaking cell phone! AH, there it is!_ She was digging furiously through her purse, trying to find her cell phone. When she found it, she dialed the number of her mom.

"Hey Mom? It's Gabriella. You'll never guess who the director is here."

"Um, Kenny Ortega?"

"No, Troy Bolton!"

"Oh. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing?" Gabriella could tell that her mom was confused. "Wait, since when was Troy Bolton a movie director?"

"To tell you the truth, I have no idea. And Troy as my director has been a bad thing, so far. He wanted to talk to me. The whole time was extremely awkward; at least, it was until I really let him have it!" Gabriella said excitedly.

"Oh, Gabriella, you didn't!"

"Yeah I did…but he deserved it, after what he did to me!"

"That may be true, but you need to act professionally."

"I guess you're right." Gabriella said.

"Good, now go find Troy, and apologize."

"Apologize?! I'm not going to apologize to him!"

"You said you would act more like professional." Gabriella's mom reminded her.

"Yeah, by more professional, I meant that I wouldn't yell at him anymore!" Gabriella's anger started to rise again.

"Well, I think you need to go talk to him again."

"Well, I need to go, Mom. I'll see you later." Gabriella really didn't need to end her call, she still had an hour to talk. She was just tired of her mom telling her to act more 'professional'.

* * *

Gabriella decided to walk around some more, and explore the set. She walked towards the entrance. She saw someone that looked very familiar talking to Troy's assistant.

"Ryan, is that you?" Gabriella shouted.

"Gabriella! Hey!! How's it going!" Both Ryan and Gabriella where excited to see each other.

Gabriella ran over to Ryan and game him a big hug. He picked her up and swung her around. When they were in high school, Gabriella and Ryan grew close through all of the musicals they were both in. "I missed you! How was your college experience?"

"It was great, although, I missed you, too"

"I think all of the letter, emails, and packages helped, though." Gabriella said

Troy was watching them through the window. "Since when was she 'buddy, buddy' with Ryan? I wish she would hug me like that. I should go out and greet them both." Troy walked outside of the room.

"Troy Bolton?" Ryan said in a surprised voice, "what are you doing here?"

**

* * *

Thanks for reading! I enjoyed all of your reviews! Sorry if this seems like an awkward place to stop, but, I couldn't figure out where else to end the chapter. Thanks again!!**


	3. Care to give me any details?

**After shattering his ankle in a skiing accident, and is no longer able to play basketball, Troy becomes a film director. Little does he know, the once love of his life, Gabriella Montez, is one of the actresses on his set. He also gets a big surprise from an old high school classmate. Troyella**

**A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews! You people are awesome! This chapter is a bit longer than the others. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I only own the plot, and original characters.**

* * *

"Troy Bolton?" Ryan said in a surprised voice, "what are you doing here?"

"Well, Ryan, I would happen to be this director of this production."

"Since when did you become a director?" Ryan questioned Troy.

"Well, it's a long story, and, to be frank, I'm not in the story telling mood." Troy was starting to get a little agitated. In high school, Troy always disliked Ryan Evans, especially during junior year, when Ryan and Gabriella got the lead roles of Romeo and Juliet. Troy always felt like punching Ryan's lights out when Gabriella had to kiss Ryan.

"Ok. Hey? Isn't it great that we're all here working together? It's like a mini reunion!" Ryan was trying to lighten the mood, but his efforts weren't working.

"Yeah, real great… Angie?" Troy called.

"Yes, Mr. Bolton?"

"Get me when all of the actors are here. I'll be in my office." Troy couldn't stand being around Gabriella while she was mad. He walked away, still trying to figure out how he could get on her good side.

"Would you mind telling me why you and 'Mr. Bolton' are in a bad mood?" Ryan asked.

"Well, when I got here, Troy wanted to talk to me, and lets just say we had a little disagreement." Gabriella said. Nobody in their circle of knew all of the details from when Troy left Gabriella.

"May I inquire as to what your 'little disagreement' was?" Ryan asked.

"Ok. Do you remember when Troy and I broke up after graduation?"

"Yeah, sort of. You were extremely vague with those details."

Gabriella told Ryan all about how Troy left her. She then told him about her conversation with Troy, and what really happened.

"You mean he just left you standing there?"

"Yup. Today was the first time that I've seen him, or talked to him, since that night." Gabriella had a disappointing tone in her voice.

"What a jerk." Ryan was very sympathetic towards Gabriella.

"I know, but I've gotten over him. I need to continue moving forward with my life."

"I will help you move forward anyway I can." Ryan leaned in and gave Gabriella a hug.

"Thanks."

"You just need to have some fun, and cheer up! Hey, after were done today, why don't I take you out to dinner?" Ryan asked. Ryan always had a tiny crush on Gabriella during high school. _Now's my chance to go out with Gabriella, even if were just friends._

"Sure! It sounds like fun!" _wait…did Ryan just ask me out on a date? I hope he knows that we're just friends. Hey, if Troy finds out about these plans, he'll get very jealous. Great! _Gabriella was really excited for the date now.

* * *

"Mr. Bolton, all of your actors are here, and in the conference room." Angie said. "Are you sure you're OK?" Troy was slouched in his chair, staring off into space.

"Huh?…oh...ok, I'll be right there."

**

* * *

In the conference room**

Troy walked in the room with confidence, and strength, this surprised Gabriella.

"Ok everyone, I am Troy Bolton, the director for this production of _One Moment in Time_. During this meeting, we'll read through the script, and get a picture in your mind of what everything should sound like. Ok, so the story starts out with our 'lovebirds'. They are Mr. Evans, and Miss Montez. If you've read the script, then you'll know that you two have a few kissing scenes together." Troy hated this. He didn't want to see Ryan and Gabriella kissing. He wanted to be the one kissing Gabriella, not Ryan.

The cast and crew spent the rest of the day reading through the script and sharing their comments.

* * *

"Ok guys, thanks for the great day. You can go home, but be back and ready to film at 8:00 am. Hey Gabriella, can I talk to you before you leave?" Troy thought that if he asked her with people around, she'd have to say yes, and talk to him.

"Sure" They waited until everyone left the room, except Ryan. "Hey Ryan? Can you just wait outside for me? We'll only take a second."

"Um, sure thing." Ryan was very suspicious towards Troy. He left the room, and closed the door.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Gabriella asked.

"Um, I just wanted to say good job today." There was an awkward silence between the two for a few minutes.

"So, is that all that you wanted to tell me?" Gabriella was a little disappointed that all Troy said was 'good job'.

"Sure, I guess."

"Ok, I guess I'll go then." Gabriella started to head for the door.

"Gabi wait. I'm sorry. You need to know that the Troy Bolton from seven years ago is a lot different than today's Troy. I truly am sorry for everything, and I hope that one day, you'll forgive me. So, in order to make it up to you, I'd like to take you out for dinner…tonight."

Gabriella was smiling on the inside. _He called me 'Gabi'. Maybe it's a little sign of affection, or maybe I'm reading too much into this. I want to say yes, but I can't let him win that easily. Plus, I still have a date with Ryan tonight._ "Thank you for your offer, but I can't."

"Why not?"

"Ryan already asked me out to dinner…sorry." Gabriella knew that her plan to make Troy jealous was working.

"OK then. I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Troy had disappointment in his voice. _I can't believe that little weasel is getting to her first! _Troy slumped down in one of the chairs, and looked very depressed, and Gabriella noticed.

"Hey Troy?"

"Yeah?" His head was on the table like before.

Gabriella paused, trying to think of the best thing to say at this moment. "Have a good evening." _Is that the best you could come up with? Jeez, my brain must not be working today._

"Uh…OK." Troy was a little confused at her last comment.

"Seeya." Gabriella walked out of the room, and was immediately greeted by Ryan.

"How'd it go in there?" He asked.

"Fine. We didn't really talk about anything. We just stood there for most of the time." Gabriella shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, are you ready to go?" Ryan said excitedly.

"Of course. Hey Ryan, where are we going anyway?"

"Well, I am usually more creative, but since this is short notice, I was thinking dinner and a movie. Does that sound OK?"

"It sounds great, especially since I'm extremely hungry."

"Well, Gabriella Montez, it would be my pleasure to feed you."

They went to dinner at an Italian restaurant, and saw a movie. The whole evening was very low key. Ryan dropped Gabriella off at her hotel, and walked her to her room.

"Thanks for tonight, it was really fun talking about the 'good old days'." Gabriella said.

"It was my pleasure. Well, good night, Gabriella." They hugged each other, and Ryan started to walk away, then turned around. "Hey Gabriella, you know how I said I am usually more creative?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Will you join me for another date tomorrow? I want to show you my creative side." Ryan was smiling at her.

"Sure! Care to give me any details?" Gabriella asked.

"Nope." Ryan stuck his hands in his pockets, spun around, and walked away.

Gabriella smiled, and walked into her room.

**

* * *

Thanks for reading! Though it may not seem like it, this story IS Troyella. If I had them get together in the beginning, the story would be over. With that, please review, and tell me what you think!**


	4. What should I do?

**After shattering his ankle in a skiing accident, and is no longer able to play basketball, Troy becomes a film director. Little does he know, the once love of his life, Gabriella Montez, is one of the actresses on his set. He also gets a big surprise from an old high school classmate. Troyella**

**A/N: Sorry that I haven't updated in a while. My nephew was in the hospital on Friday, and I had a 9 hour long orchestra rehearsal on Saturday. Plus, this chapter was really hard to write, and I have no idea why. I am pooped! Well, please R/R, and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical, just the original characters, and the plot**.

* * *

Gabriella walked into her hotel room, and flopped down on the bed, thinking about the night she just had. She needed to talk to someone about it, someone to help her analyze everything. She found her cell phone, and dialed a familiar number.

"Taylor? It's Gabriella."

"Gabriella? It's been such a long time!" Taylor exclaimed.

"I need to talk to you about a little dilemma that I have."

"Oooh, drama. Go right on ahead." Taylor was always the one person that Gabriella could count on. Taylor would let Gabriella vent about anything, she was always a good listener.

**

* * *

With Troy**

Ever since Troy got back to his hotel room, he was just laying on his bed, thinking about the day he'd had. He to needed to talk to someone. He needed a friend to help him with the predicament he was having with Gabriella.

He picked up the phone, and dialed the number of his best friend.

"Hello?" said the voice on the other end of the line.

"Hey what's up?" Troy asked.

"Who is this?"

"Dude, Its Troy! Jeez Chad, I can't believe you didn't recognize my voice. I only spoke to you last week." Troy had a tone of amazement in his voice.

"Sorry, man. I was half asleep when I answered the phone. Why did you call, anyway?" Chad let out a big yawn.

"Can't I call my best friend with no reason?" Troy asked.

"No."

"OK fine. I need your help on a predicament that I'm having."

"Sure. What did you get yourself into this time?" Chad teased.

"Well, it turns out that Gabriella is one of the actress for the movie that I'm directing."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Well, at first I was hoping it would be a good thing, but it's been bad...really bad. She totally blew up at me today."

"Ouch. I'm sorry, man." Chad was sympathetic towards Troy.

"And to top it all off, Ryan Evans is here, too."

"Ryan Evans, as in Sharpay Evans' brother?"

"How many Ryan Evans' do you know?" Troy was getting a little annoyed with Chad.

"I'm just making sure I heard you right."

"Well, you did. He's got his sights set on Gabriella. They even went on a date tonight."

"Whoa! Gabriella Montez, and Ryan Evans on a date? It's madness!"

"What should I do?" Troy ignored Chad previous comment.

"I don't know. Why do you care about this so much?"

"I'm really not sure. I mean, I hadn't seen the girl for seven years, but when I saw her today…I don't know. She's even more beautiful now than she was seven years ago."

"But aren't you the one who broke up with her in the first place?"

"Yeah, and I'm starting to think that was the biggest mistake that I could have ever made. I can't believe I just walked away from her like that." Troy was getting depressed. "I need to find a way to show her that I still care about her."

"I just got an idea that may help you…"

**

* * *

With Gabriella**

"…then I really let Troy have it. I threw my emotions all over him." Gabriella said.

"I never knew that Troy hurt you that bad."

"Well he did. I mean, he's apologized to me many times. A part of me wants to give in and forgive him, but the other part is telling me to be stubborn. I've been cold to him, and not letting him in, especially since Ryan asked me out on a date."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Ryan asked you out on a date, and you waited thirty minutes into our conversation to tell me this?"

"Yeah…and I kinda already went on that date with him."

"What do you mean by 'kinda' went on a date? As in…"

"…as in I just came back from it."

"GABRIELLA!! Oh my gosh!! How did it go? What did you guys do?"

"Surprisingly, it was really fun. The whole night was really casual. We went out to dinner at this great little Italian restaurant, we went to a movie, and then he walked me up to my room. Ryan hugged me good night, and then we set up another date for tomorrow. He said he wanted to show me his 'creative' side." Gabriella said.

"You have another date tomorrow?! OMG, Gabriella! This is huge!" Taylor said excitedly.

"Why?"

"Ok, first, you happen to be an actress on the movie set of your old high school sweet heart, Troy Bolton. You don't see the guy for seven years, then out of the blue, he turns out to be a movie director. Then, Ryan Evens just happens to be there also. The kid who had a crush on you all through high school finally gets a date with you, and you have another one tomorrow so he can show you his creative side!"

"I guess this is a little weird, huh?"

"Uhh, yeah, just a little." Taylor said sarcastically."

"So, what should I do?"

"Well, do you still have feelings for Troy?"

"I'm not sure. I think so, when I look into his eyes, everything melts away. He's even more gorgeous now than he was in high school, if you could believe it. But then there's Ryan, and he's really sweet, too."

"I think you should go on the way you have been, and see how things turn out. You never know, Troy might surprise you. Ryan might even surprise you for that matter."

"Maybe you're right. I should just 'play it cool'."

**

* * *

With Troy**

"Do you think that will work?" Troy asked.

"I'm about 85 sure that this plan will work."

"What about the other 15 percent?"

"The other 15 percent goes towards the odd that Gabriella will end up marrying Ryan." Chad joked.

"Dude, that wasn't even funny." Troy had a very serious tone in his voice.

"I'm sorry. I was just having a little fun! Gabriella Evans…it has a nice ring to it!" Chad teased.

"Again I say, not funny!"

"Oh well, you'll get over it."

"Hey Chad?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks, man."

"Anytime. Call me, and tell me how things went, ok?"

"Sure. Bye Chad."

"Seeya Troy."

**

* * *

With Gabriella**

"Thanks for letting me vent to you, Taylor."

"No problem Gabriella. You know you can always come to me with any problem."

"I know, and I am always grateful that I can come to you."

"It's no problem, really. Just make sure you call me before and after your date tomorrow."

"Ok, I will." Gabriella said with a laugh.

"I'll see you later Gabriella."

"Bye Tay, thanks again."

Both Troy and Gabriella hung up their phones, and went to bed, thinking about the day they had, and about the day they'll have tomorrow.

**

* * *

Hey peoples! This chapter was hard to write!! It was hard for me to write the dialogue between Troy and Chad. I'm not quite sure if that's actually how boys talk to each other, but, oh well. What do you think Chad's plan should be? And, what do you think Ryan's creative date should be? If your right, or I like your idea better that mine, I'll but your screen name in that chapter header!! How's that for motivation? Lol :) WOOT! Now go review!…please?**


	5. A Very Creative Date

**After shattering his ankle in a skiing accident, and is no longer able to play basketball, Troy becomes a film director. Little does he know, the once love of his life, Gabriella Montez, is one of the actresses on his set. He also gets a big surprise from an old high school classmate. Troyella**

**A/N: Thanks again for all of the reviews!! Alaska-LoveU, I liked your ideas the best. I'm not going to use it for Ryan's date, but, it gave me an idea for Troy's "redemption". This chapter is mostly Ryan and Gabriella's date. I think it's a really cute idea. Feel free to comment, and review!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical, just my original characters, and the plot.**

* * *

Everyone got to the set on time at 6:00 AM, (A/N is CH 3 is says 8:30, I bumped it back a little) just as Troy had hoped. He decided to rearrange the filming schedule, so he wouldn't have to start his day off seeing Gabriella and Ryan kiss each other. _I need to_ _be on Gabriella's good side before she starts kissing Ryan…gross. (_A/N this isn't Chad's plan.)

Ryan walked over to Gabriella to talk.

"Hey Ryan! I'm so excited for our date tonight." Gabriella said.

"Yeah, It's going to be extremely fun. And I must say, it's very creative."

"Can you spare me one detail, though?"

"It depends on what that detail is." Ryan said slyly.

"What should I wear? Jeans, a dress…"

"Um, wear something nice, but it doesn't have to be a ball gown, or anything like that."

"Ok!" Gabriella said with a smile.

"So, I'll pick you up at your hotel room. It'll probably be around 4:30."

"Sounds great!"

Troy was eves dropping on their entire conversation. _They have ANOTHER date? This guy is trying way too hard to get with Gabriella. Man, this sucks. I really want to take Gabi out. I hope Chad's plan works._

The whole day of shooting went smoothly. There were no fights, or arguments, although, things were still awkward between Gabriella and Troy. They were done filming at around 3:00. This gave Gabriella just enough time to get back to her hotel, and get ready for her date.

Gabriella has standing at the mirror, doing her make-up, when she remembered she had to call Taylor. "Hey Taylor! I called just like I promised."

"You were always good about keeping you promises. Did Ryan ever tell you what you guys were doing?"

"No. The only thing he told me was what kind of clothes to wear."

"What did he say?"

"Ryan said to wear nice clothes, but ball gowns are unnecessary."

"What are you going to wear?" Then Taylor heard a crash, and a faint voice.

"CRAP!"

"What was that? Hello?" Taylor was confused at what just happened.

"Hello, Taylor, are you still there?"

"Yeah, what just happened?"

"Well, I doing my make-up right now, so I'm trying to balance the phone on my shoulder and talk to you at the same time. I turned around to try and see what time it was, and then I stubbed my toe on the wall, and dropped the phone in the trashcan. Oh crap, Ryan is going to be here any minute!"

"I wish I could be there helping you!"

"For the sake of time, I wish you were here, too."

"What else do you have to do to get ready?"

"My hair is done, I just need to finish my make-up, and put on my dress, and my shoes."

"I'm so excited for you Gabriella!!"

"I'm excited too, but I'm really nervous at the same time."

"You're nervous? Awe, that's so cute!"

"Gee, thanks…I guess."

_Knock, knock, knock. "_ Oh man! Ryan is here! I'm not even close to being done!" She walked over to the door, and spoke through it. "Ryan?"

"Uh…yeah?" Ryan was confused.

"Can you give me a few minutes? I'm almost done, I promise." Gabriella walked away, and continued to get ready, while talking to Taylor. "He's here! Now I'm really nervous."

"What kind of dress are you wearing?" Taylor asked.

"It's a very pretty strapless dress."

"Bring a shawl or a sweater incase it's cold."

"Hey Tay? I'm gonna get dressed now. Poor Ryan, he's been sitting out there for 10 minutes now!"

"Ok Gabriella, I'll let you go."

"Bye Taylor! Thanks!"

Gabriella put her dress and her shoes on, and grabbed a purse and a shawl on her way out of the room.

Gabriella opened the door, and saw Ryan sitting on the floor, with his knees brought to his chest, and his head down on his knees. He couldn't see Gabriella from the way he was sitting.

Ryan started to speak with his head down. "Finally! I was starting to…" He looked up, and was taken away with Gabriella's beauty. "You look absolutely beautiful."

Gabriella was wearing a strapless aqua blue dress and a black satin shawl draped around her shoulders. (A/N see pic in profile. Same shoes, except closed toed, and a couple inches shorter.) Her long brown hair was in loose curls, which graced the features of her face.

"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself." Gabriella said with a smile. Ryan was wearing black slacks, and a blue button down shirt.

"Shall we?" Lucas said, holding out his hand.

"Of course." Gabriella said as she took his hand.

Ryan walked Gabriella to his car, and opened the door for her. He then got in on the other side.

"You're such a gentleman."

"Thank you." They started to drive to their destination.

"Now are you going to tell me where we are going?"

"Nope, but we're almost there." Gabriella had no idea where they were. They'd only been driving for five minutes.

"Ok, we're here." Ryan said, as he parked the car. He got out of the car, and opened the door for Gabriella and helped her out of it.

"Where are we?"

"You are so full of questions today! Ok, since we're here, I guess I can tell you what's going on. Welcome to an evening of 'mini's'!" Ryan said excitedly.

"What? I am thoroughly confused, Ryan." Gabriella said.

"This is part one of our adventure. Right now, we are at 'Wally's Golf World' park, where we will play mini golf. Get it, mini golf? And don't worry, I rented out the whole park, so there will be no screaming fans, or paparazzi."

"Oh good! Sounds like fun!"

They walked into the park at around 5:00, and played mini golf until 6:00. Gabriella won the game by a long shot, even though she was playing in heels.

"Hey Ryan? I'm sorry to break up all of the fun, but are we going to eat anytime soon? I'm starving!"

"Yup. We may now enter part 2 of our date."

They walked towards an open field in the park. There was a table set up for two people.

"Awe, Ryan! This is so cute!" To go along with the mini theme, the table was small, the chairs were small, even the silverware was small.

They sat down at the table, and were immediately greeted by an blond haired 8-year-old boy dressed in a tux. He had a striking resemblance to Ryan.

"I will be your waiter this evening, your first course will be right out." The boy started to walk away to get their food.

"You even got 'mini people' to serve our food? This is so cute Ryan!"

"Yeah. He's my little cousin. The kid will do anything if you bribe him with 20 dollars. Ah the food is here."

To follow suit of their 'mini themed' evening, Ryan and Gabriella ate all mini foods.

"That was delicious. Even though we ate mini foods, I am stuffed!" Gabriella said.

"It's beginning to get to get dark, so we can move on to phase 3."

"Phase 3? How many more phases are there?" Gabriella said playfully.

"Don't worry, this is the last one, I promise." Ryan said with a laugh.

Ryan got up and walked Gabriella around the corner of the field, past some tall trees. When the reached their destination, there was a big red couch in the middle of the grass, that was facing a projector screen. They sat down on the couch, and Gabriella let out a sigh.

"As much as I loved the idea of eating on those little chair, I must say that they were awfully uncomfortable. This is much better." She said, as she stroked the couch. "What are we going to watch?" Gabriella pointed towards the screen.

"Ok, this one is a bit of a stretch, but it sort of fits the theme. We are going to watch the 2006 edition of 'Twinkle Towne', because the female lead's name is 'Minnie'." Ryan said.

"You mean this is the one that Troy and I acted in from high school? How did you get a copy of it?

"My parents video taped every performance Sharpay and I were in."

"Ryan, this is so sweet of you to do this!"

The movie started, with Troy out on the stage first. Gabriella had a huge smile on her face, as she was remembering the fun she had with Troy that year. _I really miss those days. Life was a lot simpler back in high school. _

About 45 minutes into the video, Gabriella took off her shoes, and situated herself, so she was leaning on Ryan, and he had his arm around her shoulder. Gabriella really enjoyed watching her old play. She sang the melody to all of the songs, and Ryan harmonized with her. When the play reached the point when Gabriella and Troy sang 'Breaking Free' she stopped singing, and only watched.

_I haven't heard this song in years! This is when Troy and I really started to fall in love. _On the inside, Gabriella was beginning to feel depressed. She really missed Troy, and she really missed feeling his warm embrace. But, on the outside, she was smiling. Gabriella didn't want her sad emotions to ruin the evening.

When the movie ended, they both clapped. "You did a wonderful job, Miss Montez." Ryan said.

"You did too, Mr. Evans" Gabriella said.

They went back to Ryan's car, and drove to Gabriella's hotel. Ryan walked Gabriella up to her room.

"Thank you so much for tonight! This was one of the most fun dates that I've ever been on!" Gabriella said with a smile.

"You're welcome! Was it creative enough?"

"Oh yes! Very creative." Gabriella shook her head up and down. "I can't believe you went through all of this trouble to take me out on a date."

"Don't even worry about that. It was well worth it!" Ryan smiled at Gabriella.

She hugged him, and he returned the hug. He kissed her forehead. "Good night, Gabriella Montez." He started to walk towards the elevator.

"Good night Ryan Evans." He turned his head around, and gave Gabriella a smile. She had a sad tone in her voice, but not because Ryan left.

Gabriella walked into her room and closed the door behind her. She was thinking about her night, and about Troy. She stood there, looking at her room, then started to cry. She let her back hit the door, and slid down the wall. She hugged her knees, and kept crying.

**

* * *

What's up my peeps? Sorry this chapter was so flippin' long. It's almost 2000 words! I didn't expect it to last this long!! Oh well. Did you enjoy it? Did you think Ryan's date was cute? Write a review and tell me your thoughts!**

**ps: I'll explain the whole "Gabriella crying" thing in the next chapter. Thanks! **


	6. Two and a half hours

**After shattering his ankle in a skiing accident, and is no longer able to play basketball, Troy becomes a film director. Little does he know, the once love of his life, Gabriella Montez, is one of the actresses on his set. He also gets a big surprise from an old high school classmate. Troyella**

**A/N: Thanks again for all of the reviews!! You are all awesome! I know most of you don't like all of this Ryella business, but it's vital to the story. Don't worry, Troyella is just around the corner (In fact, this is chapter the very, very, very beginning.) Also, the video of 'Tinkle Town' was the turning point of Gabriella's feelings/emotions. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical, just my original characters, and the plot.**

* * *

Gabriella woke up very tired, and confused. She got up, trudged to the mirror to survey the damage. Her make-up from the previous night was smeared on her cheeks, and her hair was in a wild frenzy. Gabriella cried herself to sleep the previous night. She turned around to see what time it was. 

"CRAP!!! It's 10:30! I was supposed to be at work two hours ago! Troy is going to be livid at me!" Gabriella hurried, and got ready. She washed her face, but there were still swollen bags under her eyes from all of the crying.

Gabriella rushed to work, and got there as fast as she could. When she got there no one noticed her. It was as though they didn't need her in the film anymore. Ryan saw her and rushed over.

"Where were you? I tried to call you at least ten times! I was worried about you, are you ok?"

Gabriella's processing speeds weren't quite up to par. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine. I just woke up a little late, that's all."

_A little late? Something must really be wrong with Ms. Punctuality over here if she thinks two and a half hours is 'a little late'. _Ryan though to himself. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Do you know where Troy is? I need to talk to him."

"I think he's filming with the other actors right now. I wouldn't disturb him, though. He hates it when people do that…or at least when I do it." Ryan said with a smile.

"Ok. Thanks." Gabriella said as she walked away.

* * *

"Troy! There you are!" Gabriella was exhausted from trying to find Troy. Luckily, he wasn't in the middle of a take. He turned around and looked at her "I just-"

"Where have you been?! I expected you here two and a half hours ago!"

"I'm sorry. Can I just talk to you?"

"I'm very busy, it'll have to wait." Troy hated telling this to Gabriella. He hated seeing her so tired and depressed. He wanted to forget about the movie, and just talk to Gabriella. "Please go to hair and make up. You'll be filming as soon as you're done in there."

"When can I talk to you then?"

"Come find me when we're done filming today." Troy was acting coldly towards Gabriella.

Gabriella was disappointed about having to wait so long to talk to Troy.

* * *

Gabriella shot her scenes with precision, so she finished early. There was still one and a half hours until Troy would be done, though. Gabriella decided to walk around, and try to sort out all of her thoughts. She found a couch out of the way of everyone and everything, and decided to take a rest. She retrieved her cell phone from out of her pocket, and turned it on. The screen said _'15 missed calls'_ on it. 

"Well Ryan, apparently, you tried to call me 15 times." She said sarcastically. Gabriella remembered that she never called Taylor last night. She dialed her phone number.

"Hey Taylor. Sorry I forgot to call you last night." Gabriella had a depressed tone in her voice.

"That's alright. Are you ok? You sound a little blue."

"Everyone keeps asking me that same question. I'm just tired, that's all."

"How did the date go? What did you guys do?" Taylor was excited to find out the details.

"The date was very fun. It was 'mini' themed."

"Huh?"

"That was my reaction at first…" Gabriella told Taylor all about phases 1 and 2 of the date. Most of Taylor's reactions were 'awe!' or 'that is so cute!'. Her explanation took about an hour.

"And then there was phase 3" Gabriella said.

"Phase 3? My goodness, how many more phases are there?"

"This is the last one." Gabriella said with a laugh. Talking to Taylor was cheering her up. "We walked around a corner of the field that was covered by some trees. There was a big red, comfy couch in the middle of the grass. It faced a projector screen."

"That's so cool! What did you guys watch?"

"We watched 'Twinkle Towne'. It was a copy of the one from high school that Troy and I were in together."

"What did 'Twinkle Town' have to do with the theme?" Gabriella explained everything. She also told Taylor how much fun they had watching and singing.

"It was so much fun watching the play. We all looked so much different back then! Ryan and I sang the words to all of the songs. I can't believe that I still remember the words after almost eight years."

"Oh, Gabriella! That sounds like so much fun!"

"I was having the time of my life…until 'Breaking Free' came on. Then I started to get really sad."

"Why?"

"I'm really not quite sure. I guess it's because that's when Troy and I were starting to fall in love."

"It sounds like you really miss Troy." Taylor said sympathetically.

"I do, but then I don't at the same time. When I think of all of the wonderful things we did together, and all of the fun memories that we have, I really miss him." Gabriella was starting to tear up, but you couldn't hear it in her voice. "But when I think about how he left me, I just get so sad and depressed."

"You don't feel anger towards him anymore?"

"No, not really. I guess I let all of my anger go when I yelled at him. Hey Taylor?"

"Yeah Gabriella?"

"I've got to go, I think Troy will be done by now."

"Ok! Tell me how it goes! You know I live vicariously through all of your drama."

"Ok." Gabriella said with a laugh. "I'll talk to you later…Bye" Gabriella dried off her tears, and went to go find Troy.

_

* * *

Knock, Knock, Knock_

_"_Come in."Troy said, he was in his office. He stood up when he saw that Gabriella walked in

"Hey Troy, is it ok if we talk now?" Gabriella shut the door behind her.

"I guess." Troy said, letting out all of his breath. He was leaning against a wall.

"I'm really sorry that I came late today. I know it was unprofessional-"

"Unprofessional?! No, I'm sorry, 'unprofessional' is ten minutes late, not two and a half hours!"

"I know, I'm sorry."

"You cost me hundreds of dollars just by waiting for you!" Gabriella was starting to tear up, but Troy didn't really notice.

"Please Troy! I'm sorry!"

"I can't believe that you would show up two and a half hours late to a job, Gabriella! That's not like you at all!"

"I know! I'm sorry!" Gabriella was really starting to cry, sound effects and everything. Gabriella had her arms crossed, with one hand over her face. Troy noticed it this time.

"Well, what do you want me to do?!" Troy said.

"I don't know!!" Gabriella started cry even harder. "I don't know." She started to collapse towards the floor, and she couldn't catch her breah.

Troy ran towards Gabriella and brought her up in a big hug. This made Gabriella feel a lot better. "I'm sorry Troy." Gabriella said with a softer voice, into his chest.

"It's ok, Gabi. Everything will be alright." Troy was doing his best to console Gabriella, just like he did when they were a couple. Gabriella kept crying into his chest. Troy ran his fingers through her hair, just like he wanted to do when he first saw Gabriella.

**

* * *

Hey peoples! Thanks again for reading! I didn't really like the way this chapter turned out, and sorry if it seems like a weird place to end… more Troyella to come! Please write a review, and tell me what you think. **


	7. The Dumbest Argument Ever

**After shattering his ankle in a skiing accident, and is no longer able to play basketball, Troy becomes a film director. Little does he know, the once love of his life, Gabriella Montez, is one of the actresses on his set. He also gets a big surprise from an old high school classmate. Troyella**

**A/N: Thanks for all of your wonderful reviews! All of you are awesome!! I think this chapter will be a bit fluffier than the others. Like I said before, this is the very, very, very tip of the "Troyella iceberg", so enjoy! (…because I know you're getting tired of Ryella… but be forewarned, there's more of that, too)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM.**

* * *

"It's ok, Gabi. Everything will be alright." Troy was rubbing Gabriella's back, and he let his finger tips gently wander through her hair. "I am here for as long as you need me."

Gabriella kept crying in Troy's arms for ten more minutes, and then she started to calm down. Troy walked her over to the couch, where she rested her head on Troy's shoulder. She let more tears fall for five minutes before she spoke.

"You are always so good to me, Troy."

"No I'm not." Troy had his hands folded in his lap, and tilted his head down.

"Yes you are. You were always right next to me when I needed you the most…except for…I don't want to talk about that right now." Gabriella was starting to feel better. She didn't want to be saddened by talking about when Troy left her.

"Well, you were always there when I needed you, too. You helped me so much when my dad was stressing me out senior year. I don't think I would have made it without you there by my side." Gabriella sat up, and looked into his eyes. Troy was still staring at the floor. He looked up at her, and Gabriella smiled. Troy and Gabriella were lost in each other's gaze for a few minutes. Troy started leaning in slightly, to attempt to steal one sweet kiss…then reality walked in. And by reality, I mean Angie, Troy's assistant.

"Oh! Mr. Bolton!" Angie jumped a little. "I didn't know you were in here." She was feeling nervous.

"Well we are." Troy had an annoyed tone in his voice. Angie ruined the "moment" that Troy and Gabriella had going.

"I am terribly sorry."

"Me too." Troy muttered under his breath.

"I saw your light on, and I came in to turn it off."

"Thanks." An awkward pause arose between them. "Well, goodnight, Angie. Drive carefully."

"Thank you, and goodnight, Mr. Bolton. Goodnight, Ms. Montez." Angie walked nervously out the door, and Gabriella had a smile on her face.

"What?" Troy had turned and seen Gabriella's smile.

"Are all of your assistants afraid of you?"

"Afraid of me? Angie is hardly afraid of me." Troy leaned back, and crossed his arms.

"She is so terrified of you!"

"No she's not!"

"Yes she is! Angie almost wet her pants when she saw you were in here." Gabriella began to laugh.

"Ok, first of all, we only startled her, she wasn't expecting anyone to be in here. Secondly, that's discusting. And thirdly, this is the dumbest argument we've ever had." Gabriella started laughing a bit louder. "Well, I'm glad that my strange assistant, who is terrified of me, seems funny to you." Troy said sarcastically as Gabriella kept laughing.

"Ow…" Gabriella placed a hand on her head. "…I feel like I have a hangover." Gabriella kept rubbing her head.

"Well you have been crying for…let's see…" Troy rose up his arm and examined his watch. "…uh, I'd say about half an hour. "

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." Gabriella's cheeks plushed a little.

"It's ok." Troy said, while rubbing the wet spot on his shoulder. "I'm used to it."

"Ugh. My head is killing me." (A/N:Yes, Gabriella does have a headache, she's not faking it)

"Do you want me to take you back to your hotel?"

"Um, sure." _Why did he just as to take me back to my hotel? I guess he just wants to make sure I'm ok. _

"Do you need to gather anything?"

"Nope, I have all of my things."

"Ok, cool. My rental car is out front. So…just follow me."

* * *

Troy drove Gabriella back to her hotel. They never spoke a word the whole trip, but it wasn't an awkward silence. Troy was thinking about how he wished Angie hadn't interrupted him and Gabriella in his office. Gabriella was thinking about Troy, and his beautiful dark blue eyes. _Troy has the most gorgeous eyes in the world. I could stare into them forever._ Gabriella thought with a sigh. _I think we're making progress, though. It was fun laughing like old times. _

"Ok, were here." Troy said. He got out of the car and opened Gabriella's door.

"What service!" Gabriella said playfully.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." He said sarcastically. Troy walked Gabriella up to her room.

"Thanks for giving me a ride back, Troy."

"It was no problem at all, really. I just wanted to make sure you got back safely. How are you feeling, anyway?"

"Oh, my head still hurts a little. I think a couple of aspirin, and a good nap will do the trick."

"Well, I hope you feel better soon. I need you healthy so we can continue shooting tomorrow."

"Aye, aye, Captain!" Gabriella said, while saluting Troy.

"Yeah, that's right. You better call me Captain. That's how I want you to identify me, from now on. Either 'Captain', or 'Commander-in-chief'...take your pick." Troy said jokingly. Gabriella snickered at Troy's previous comment.

"Ok, Captain." Gabriella had a big smile on.

"Hey Gabi? I'm sorry for acting like such a total idiot today."

"Troy, it's alright, really-"

"No it's not. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I've just had more than my fair share of stress lately, and I just let it all out on you."

"I'm sorry for coming to work so late, too. I've just had a lot on my mind lately." There was a silence between them.

"Apology accepted?" Troy said, while sticking out his hand.

"Of course. And you?" Gabriella said, raising her eyebrows.

"Always." Troy said, with a smile. Gabriella shook Troy's hand. Then they broke back into the same gaze they had going before, while still holding each other's hand. "Well, I should get going, and let you rest." Troy said reluctantly.

"Ok...I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Troy started to walk away. "Hey, Troy!"

He stopped, and turned around. "Yeah?"

"By the way, that argument about Angie wasn't the dumbest one we've ever had."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah." Gabriella paused, and smiled. " Superman can totally kick Spiderman's butt."

"No way! Spiderman could totally own Superman in a head-to-head duel. The guy wears red 'panties' on the outside of his costume, for goodness sake!!"

"Yeah, whatever." Said sarcastically.

"You know I'm right." Troy was smiling. He turned, and started walking toward the elevator.

"Have a good evening, Captain." She called, after him. He turned his head around, and flashed her a smile.

"Goodnight, Gabi." Troy said.

Gabriella let out a sigh, and walked into her room.

_He called me Gabi!! _

**

* * *

OK…for those you who are scratching their heads, and saying, "huh?"… 'Gabi' is Troy's way showing affection towards Gabriella. 'Gabi' was his pet name for her; nobody else was allowed to call her that, except Troy…or Captain…heehee…**

**So, please click that pretty purple button at the bottom left hand corner of the screen, and leave me a message! The more reviews I get, the quicker I'll update! Thank you! WOOT!**


	8. It Sounds Like Your in Love

**After shattering his ankle in a skiing accident, and is no longer able to play basketball, Troy becomes a film director. Little does he know, the once love of his life, Gabriella Montez, is one of the actresses on his set. He also gets a big surprise from an old high school classmate. Troyella**

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update! Stupid fanfiction wouldn't let me update my story, plus I had a slight case of writer's block…and, I'm not exactly sure how boys actually talk to each other. This chappie is going to be another telephone conversation…but it's important…I think. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical.**

* * *

When he got back to his hotel room, after dropping Gabriella off, Troy decided to call his "old buddy" again.

"Hey, Chad! How's it going?"

"Zeke! I haven't talked to you in ages!!"

"Zeke?!" Troy was very confused "Dude! This isn't Zeke!" Troy was getting annoyed with Chad lack of awareness.

"Who is this then?" Chad honestly didn't know whom he was talking to.

"Oh, my gosh! Dude! I just spoke to you two days ago!"

"Troy?"

"No, it's you in twenty years from now…yes it's Troy."

"Sorry."

"Jeez, you can be really dense sometimes."

"What's got you so wound up? …and 'Chad Danforth' can not be you answer."

"I don't know, man."

"Come on, you can tell me." Chad had a sincere voice despite Troy's slight dig at him.

"Well, how much time do you have?" Troy asked.

"Why?"

"Because this could take a while."

"For my best friend, take as much time as you need…"

* * *

After Troy left, Gabriella decided she deserved some much needed 'girl talk'. She needed someone to help her sort through all of her thoughts and feelings.

"Hey Tay, what are you up to right now?"

"Um, nothing really. I'm just watching T.V."

"Oh good, you're not doing anything important."

"No, why?"

"Well-"

"Oor…more drama?" Taylor asked excitedly.

"I guess you could call it that."

"Well, hop to it! Go ahead and spill those 'drama beans'."

"Gee, Taylor, could you be anymore demanding?" Gabriella had a sarcastic tone in her voice.

"I'm sorry! It's just been so boring around here." Gabriella took a 'dramatic pause' before speaking. "…Well, go on!"

"Alright, alright!" Gabriella said.

* * *

"…and I just stood there holding her as she cried. For any other guy, it would've been a total 'yawn-fest', but I loved every second of it."

"Wait a minute, let me get this right. You loved Gabriella using you as a human tissue?"

"Yes. I loved gently running my fingers through her hair, and softly stroking her back. I loved being the one who held her up in her time of need."

"I know this is a 'tender moment', but Troy, you're starting to sound a bit 'flash'." Chad said.

"Hey, don't bring me down, just because you don't have a girlfriend." Troy said jokingly.

"Ouch, man. You cut me deep with that one." Chad replied sarcastically.

"Yeah, well, I try."

* * *

"…so then I just broke down and started crying."

"Like one tear…or-"

"Let's just say I could have opened my own water park."

"It was that bad?" Taylor asked.

"Pretty much. I'm actually surprised Troy didn't get washed away."

"Speaking of Troy, what was he doing while you were a lawn sprinkler?"

"He was holding me." Gabriella had a smile on her face.

"Awe, that's so cute!"

"Taylor, you have no idea how good it felt. As soon as he touched me, it felt like a lot of my stress had gone away."

"Aw, Gabriella-" Taylor was beginning to not feel so worried about Gabriella.

* * *

"Holy crap! You almost kissed her?" Chad exclaimed.

"Yeah, I did. And then my assistant walked in, right as I was leaning in." Troy said.

"That's rough. I'm sorry man."

"Me, too." Troy said with a sigh. "Stupid Angie." He muttered under his breath like a 7 year old.

"Who's Angie?"

"My assistant."

"Why did you just call her stupid?"

"I wasn't calling _her _stupid, per say. I was calling the situation stupid."

"Yeah, suuure." Chad teased.

* * *

"And then, I could've sworn Troy was leaning in to kiss me."

"OMG! How was it? Was there still a spark there? And after seven years…oh, that's so romantic." Taylor said with a smile. She sounded like she was floating.

"What's romantic?"

"The kiss that you and Troy had."

"Taylor, what are you talking about? I never kissed Troy."

"You didn't kiss Troy? Did you just say…? Well, what happened?" Taylor was a little confused.

"Troy's skittish assistant walked in on us."

"Awe, Gabriella, I'm sorry."

"I'm not." Gabriella said.

"You're not? Why not?"

"I think it would have been more awkward if we had kissed."

"Huh?"

"Instead of blushing afterward, and having an awkward conversation about it, we shared a laugh."

"So, you're saying you'd rather laugh with Troy, than kiss him?" Taylor was having a hard time believing Gabriella.

"Well, sort of. Heaven knows I wouldn't mind kissing Troy Bolton. But for the sake of our relationship, I think it's more important to become friends again." Gabriella wasn't sure if she believed herself, either.

"So, you don't have _those _sort of feelings for him?"

"What sort of feelings are you talking about?"

"What I'm trying to say is, you don't have any 'boyfriend, girlfriend' feelings?"

"No."

"Are you sure? Because, you don't sound sure." Taylor was trying to get Gabriella to admit her feelings.

"Taylor…" She said with a sigh. "I don't know…"

* * *

"-I told her to call me Captain from now on." Troy said.

"Captain? I must say Troy, that's a little weird." Chad said.

"Well, it wasn't at the time."

"Whatever, Captain."

"Hey, you're not allowed to call me Captain."

"Yes, Captain."

"Chad!"

"Sorry, Captain."

"Would you shut up?" Said an annoyed Troy.

* * *

"-then I said, 'Aye, aye, Captain!'. After that he told me told me to call him Captain…or Commander-in-Chief."

"That's so cute, Gabriella." Taylor started to laugh. "Ha-ha…Commander-in-chief." She had a smile on her face.

"We had a really sweet goodbye." Gabriella further elaborated.

"I'm happy, Taylor. For the first time in a very long time, I'm genuinely happy."

"That's good." Taylor said.

"You should see me, I'm actually smiling."

"It sounds like you're in love." Taylor knew she was finally getting to the truth.

"Huh…I don't know, maybe I am." Gabriella had an even bigger smile on.

* * *

"Chad, I don't know what I'm feeling when I'm with Gabriella."

"Do you think you're having doubts?"

"No, it's just not the same as when we were in high school."

"What do you mean?"

"It's better."

**

* * *

Awe...they're in loooove! Que Bonito! Ok...review please!**

P.S All of you are friggin' awesome!! I got so many reviews…and I enjoyed reading ALL of them.

**P.P.S. Would you like it if either Chad or Taylor visited the movie set? Shoot me a review and tell me what you think! Thanks! I heart you all:0)**


	9. Always Interrupted

**After shattering his ankle in a skiing accident, and is no longer able to play basketball, Troy becomes a film director. Little does he know, the once love of his life, Gabriella Montez, is one of the actresses on his set. He also gets a big surprise from an old high school classmate.**

**A/N: Again…THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for all of your reviews! It makes my day when I read your feedback. Please read and enjoy this chapter…and review. :o)**

**Also, please check out my new fanfic called 'Growing Up', and tell me what you think. Thanks!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM.**

* * *

Gabriella woke up happy. She remembered all that happened yesterday, between her and Troy. She took extra care in getting ready today, so Troy would see her at her best. She put on a pair of khaki bermuda shorts, a cute blue top, and some white sandals. Gabriella wore her hair down, letting her curls flow free. For the first time working on this movie, she was excited to go to work. Gabriella hurried, so she could make it to work early and see Troy.**

* * *

At the movie set**

Gabriella got to the set twenty minutes early. When she found Troy, he was already running around the set, trying to get things done.

"Troy!" Gabriella called after him. "Why must 'Captain' over there be so deaf?" She said, but not loud enough for anyone to hear. She was doing the best she could to catch up with him, in her sandals that didn't stay on her feet very well. "Troy! Wait up- AH!" Gabriella tripped, causing a loud _CRASH. _Troy turned around, and saw a limp Gabriella on the ground about fifty feet away from him.

"Oh my gosh! Gabi are you Ok?" He ran over to her as fast as he could. "Gabi, are you alright? Speak to me!" Troy was genuinely worried about her. Then Gabriella sat up, and broke down into a contagious laughter.

"Ow…that…really…hurt." She said in between laughs. She had tears coming down from her eye because she was laughing so hard.

"Gabi are you alright?" Troy was crouched next to her, with one hand on her knee, and the other cradling the back of her neck.

"I'm fine. My knee…hurts…though." She was still laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" Then Troy gave a little chuckle.

"Because I must look like such a ditz right now." She was still giggling, but not as hard as before. "Where did my other shoe go?"

Troy got up to go find Gabriella's shoe, while she sat there. The shoe was wedged underneath some random couch. Troy walked back to Gabriella, with her shoe in his hand. He crouched down next to her like before, and handed Gabriella her shoe.

"I think you look beautiful." Troy said with a smile. Gabriella blushed a little, then got caught in Troy's gaze. After a few moments, Troy started to lean in for a kiss. Gabriella closed her eyes in preparation for the moment. Troy was about three inches, and closing, from Gabriella's face, when-

"TROY!!" Said and overly excited voice.

Troy let out a groan, and turned around to see who had come in at exactly the wrong time.

"Chad? What are you doing here?" Gabriella asked. She was a little irritated, but not as much as Troy.

"Yes, Chad, what are you doing here… in Los Angeles, which is far, far away from you home all the way in New York?" Troy had an extremely annoyed tone in his voice.

"I decided to come down for the weekend! Aren't you excited?" Chad wasn't at all aware of what he interrupted. Troy stood up off of the ground, and helped Gabriella stand up.

"Yeah, Chad… very excited." Troy said sarcastically. Gabriella winced for her sore knee.

"Ouch." Gabriella said. She grabbed Troy's arm, and shifted all of her weight onto the other foot.

"Why were you guys on the floor?" Chad asked innocently.

"Well, I took a nose dive while I was chasing after Troy. He just ran over to see if I was ok…and I'm ok, by the way." She directed the last part to Troy.

"Oh, good." Troy said. "Here, let me help you walk to my office. I can check you out better in there." Chad let out a noticeable snicker, and Gabriella blushed a little. "Shut up, Chad. You know what I mean."

"Sorry, man." Chad said. "I'm sure you're gonna check her out anyway." He said while elbowing Troy in the side.

"This is going to be an extremely long weekend." Troy said, but only loud enough for Gabriella to hear.

Troy put Gabriella's arm around his shoulder, so she could support herself on him. They started to walk (more like limp) very slowly, and Troy's office was far way from where they were.

"I'm sorry for my impatience, but this is taking too long." Troy said.

"What… Whoa!" Troy had picked Gabriella up bridal style, and started walking towards his office. "Troy! What are you doing?" Gabriella said excitedly.

"You were taking too long. I decided to speed things up a bit." He said while walking. "…unless you want me to put you back down."

"No, no. This is fine." Gabriella didn't mind being so close to Troy's perfectly toned chest. She rested her head on his shoulder for the rest of the trip.

"Ok, we're here. Chad, open the door, please." Chad obeyed Troy's request, and open the door.

"Whoa, sweet digs." Chad commented on Troy's office while he shook his head. Troy walked over to the couch, and gently placed Gabriella down. Chad sat in Troy's office chair, and started spinning in fast circles.

"You'd think he was in the fifth grade, or something." Troy said while staring at Chad. "Ah, let's check out your knee." Troy knelt down next to Gabriella, placed his hands on her leg, right above her knee. He let his thumbs gently wander across her knee.

Gabriella felt a spark as soon as he touched her. _Oh, I love Troy's soft and gentle touch. He's so beautiful. He's really been inspecting my knee for a long time. Good thing I shaved this morning. _Gabriella thought. She was looking at him longingly, and let out a sigh.

"Oh, did I hurt you?" Troy asked.

"No…I was just…breathing…" Gabriella lied.

"Ok. Well, it looks like your knee is only bruised. I'll have Angie bring you and ice pack."

"Troy, I'll be fine, really. You don't need to-"

"Gabi, I insist."

"Ok." She said with a smile. Troy took his cell phone from out of his pocket, and called Angie.

"Hey Angie."

"Good morning, Mr. Bolton! How are you doing today?"

"I'm doing great. How about you?"

"I'm doing fine, thanks for asking."

"Listen, Angie, could you bring me an ice pack?"

"An ice pack? Sure, is there anything wrong?"

"No, nothing major. Ms. Montez just bruised her knee, that's all."

"Oh, ok. Where should I deliver it to?"

"Just bring it around to my office."

"Sure, Mr. Bolton. Do you need anything else?"

"Umm…I don't think so."

"Ok! Just let me know if you think of something."

"Thanks, Angie. I'll see you in a bit. Bye." Troy closed his phone, and put it back in his pocket. "An ice pack is on its way." Troy flashed a smile to Gabriella.

"So Chad, what have you been up to in the past seven years?" Gabriella asked.

"Ugh…I don't feel good…" Chad complained. He was slouched in Troy's chair, with his head bobbed to the side.

"Well, that's what you get for spinning in my chair for five minutes straight." Troy said.

"Plus, I had some doughnuts from the table near the entrance." Chad said.

"Chad, those were for the people who actually work here on this set." Troy said.

"I don't think one doughnut will make you sick." Gabriella commented.

"Well, I didn't have just one doughnut."

"How many doughnuts did you have?" Troy asked.

"A few…" Chad broke eye contact with Troy and Gabriella, and just stared at the wall.

"Chad…how many?" Troy had a very fatherly tone in his voice. This made Gabriella grin.

"Three…" Troy gave Chad a questioning stare. "…OK fine! I had nine doughnuts! Jeez! I didn't know you guys were the doughnut police!"

_Knock, knock, knock_

"Come in!"

"Hello, Mr. Bolton, Ms. Montez." Troy got up from the ground to greet Angie.

"Good morning, Angie."

"Here is the ice pack that you requested." She handed the ice pack to Troy, then looked over at a limp Chad. "May I ask who this is?"

"Oh…that's Chad Danforth." Chad was still slumped over in his chair. "He's just an old buddy from high school."

"Ok. Nice to meet you Mr. Danforth." Chad only acknowledged her by raising up his arm, and letting it back down.

"Angie, could you please arrange a car to take Chad back to my place? He's not feeling too good." Troy said.

"Of course. Mr. Danforth, if you could follow me, I will get you a ride back to Mr. Bolton's hotel room." Chad got up with a groan, and slumped after Angie.

Troy walked over to Gabriella, and placed the ice pack on her knee and held it there for her. She let a smile appear across her face again.

"Well, Angie didn't seem so afraid of you today." Gabriella said with a giggle.

"Angie isn't afraid of me!"

"You're right…she's more terrified of you." Gabriella teased.

"She is not…" Trpy smiled. "...Spiderman could still kick Superman's butt, anyways." They both started laughing. (A/N, that argument is from ch. 8)

* * *

Troy and Gabriella had a normal workday; there was no awkwardness, or arguments. Troy asked Gabriella if she was feeling all right in between each take. Each time, she smiled, and said she felt fine. When their day was finished, Troy got Gabriella's attention, with the entire cast still around them.

"Ms. Montez, could I speak to you for a moment?" Troy asked.

"Um, sure." Gabriella started to wobble towards Troy. He walked over to her, and helped her walk towards a chair that was away from most of the other people. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Gabriella asked.

"I just wanted to knw if it was alright if I give you a ride back to your hotel room today."

"Ok, why? Gabriella had no objections, she was just wondering why.

"I just want to make sure you get back safe. I don't want to take any chances of you getting hurt even more."

"Sure, that's fine."

"Ok, cool. Just wait here, I'll be back in a few minutes. I need to wrap up a few things, then I'll take you back to your place." Troy raced off, so he wouldn't make Gabriella wait a long tome for him.

"Sounds great." Gabriella let out a sigh, and let her hand explore the texture of the couch she was sitting on. She was only sitting there for two minutes when she saw Troy reappear through the doorway. She smiled when she saw him.

"Alright, everything's squared away. Let's go." Troy walked over to Gabriella, and helped her out of her chair. He also helped her walk over to his car.

* * *

They drove in an un-awkward silence again. She sat there, staring at his hand that rested on his own knee. He was thinking about how beautiful she looked today. When they got there, Troy jumped out of the car, and opened the door for her. He helped her wobble all the way up to her hotel room.

"Ok, I guess you got here safe." Troy said.

"Yes I did. Thank you." She said as she nodded his head.

"You're welcome."

"It's crazy about Chad being here, huh?" Gabriella was making small talk because she didn't want to see Troy leave.

"Yeah…" he said while rubbing his head. "I have no idea what I am going to do with him for four whole days."

"You'll figure it out. You know you'll have tons of fun with him"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He grabbed her hand, and kissed it. "Well, Ms. Montez, I must go."

"Oh, Ok. I guess I'll see you tomorrow." She sounded a little disappointed. Then, they got lost in each other's gaze, again. This time, Gabriella found herself to be the one who was leaning in for the kiss. They heard the elevator ding, but they ignored it.

"Gabriella!!" Said a peppy voice. Both Troy and Gabriella let out a groan. Gabriella didn't want to turn around, in hopes that the person would leave.

"Taylor?" Troy asked.

**

* * *

Hey peoples!! Thanks for reading! Sorry it took me so long to update. Please R/R and tell me what you think. Feel free to leave your comments and ideas! Thanks!**

**Ps. Don't forget to check out my new story called "Growing Up". Thanks!**


	10. AN Sorry Guys

Hey guys!! I am SOOOOOO sorry that I have been so neglectful! It was April since I last updated!!! I've been super busy lately. But, things will get better in two week. School is out by then, and I will be way less stressed. Be then, I'll probably be able to update once or twice a week. WOOT! But, I promise to update before then. I am working on Chapter 10…it's just taking me longer than expected. Oh, Well…seeya later!

**I heart all of you! You are really, really, REALLY awesome!!**

**Shards-o'-toast**


	11. Taylor?

**After shattering his ankle in a skiing accident, and is no longer able to play basketball, Troy becomes a film director. Little does he know, the once love of his life, Gabriella Montez, is one of the actresses on his set. He also gets a big surprise from an old high school classmate.**

**A/N: I know I say this every time, but I really am grateful for all of your reviews!! Please keep 'em coming!! **

**For those of you who are wondering, Chad's plan (all the way back from chapter 3) will be happening within the next few chapters. By the way, in this chapter, it's about 7:30 in the evening. Sorry for the wait!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM.**

* * *

"Taylor?" Troy said in an annoyed voice.

"Taylor?" Gabriella hadn't turned around to see who was behind her yet. "Taylor!!" Gabriella tried to hobble as fast as she could to get to Taylor.

"Gabriella!" Taylor had dropped all of her bags, and ran towards Gabriella. "I missed you!" Gabriella and Taylor collided, and dropped to the floor.

"Oh my gosh!" Troy said, running over to the heap formerly known and Taylor and Gabriella. "Are you guys ok?" Taylor and Gabriella burst into laughter.

"After all of these years, we're still klutzes." Taylor said while laughing.

"Ha! You should have seen me this morning! That's why I was limping towards you." Troy just stood there in awe of the two girls. The two gave each other a big hug.

"Wow, girls are really weird." Troy bent down, and helped Gabriella off of the ground.

"Thank you, Troy." Gabriella said. Once everything got settled, and everyone was off of the ground, Troy took Taylor's bags, and carried them into Gabriella's room.

"What a gentleman." Taylor commented on Troy. "Someone trained you right." Taylor said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, well, I try." Troy said, shaking his head. Once Troy walked in the room, he dropped all of Taylor's bags out of the way, and plopped down on a chair. "Jeez, Taylor. You have a lot of crap."

"Hey, my things are not crap."

"Guys call everything crap." Troy said in his defense.

"Whatever…" Taylor said playfully.

"It's true…they really do call everything crap…except girls." Gabriella said to mock Troy.

"Hey, let's change the subject…Taylor, why'd you come down for the weekend? "

"Well, I felt like visiting Gabriella for a while, and I had nothing else to do."

"You live in San Francisco, right?" Troy asked.

"Yup." There was an awkward pause between them for a few minutes.

"Alright then, I guess I'll get going then. I've got an early day tomorrow." Troy said, while standing up.

"I'll walk you out!" Gabriella said, jumping up.

"Alright…" Gabriella walked Troy down the hall, to the elevators. Her knee was felling better, so she wasn't limping as much.

"Thanks again for giving me a ride back."

"It was no trouble at all."

"Good." Gabriella said with a smile. Troy smiled back. _Man, she's so beautiful. Why did I ever let her go? _Gabriella grabbed Troy's hand, and started playing with it.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Troy asked. Again, he had no objections, he was just wondering why.

"Nothing." She said with another smile. She held his hand for a moment longer, until Troy's cell phone rang.

"Always interrupted…" Troy said under his breath. "Hello? What do you want, Chad? Well, I'm at Gabriella's place right now…I was just about to leave." Troy mouthed _I'm sorry_ to Gabriella. She nodded in reply. "Ok Chad…just go ahead and order room service…well, I'm not paying for anything you order…Man, I'll be there in a few minutes…ok…bye." Troy let out a huge sigh. "Man, he can be a real pain in the neck sometimes."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"Ok, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Troy let out another sigh. He looked at Gabriella, and then gave her a tight hug. "Thank you." He said.

"For what?" Gabriella asked.

"You always give really good hugs."

"Oh…" Gabriella started to blush a little. "Anytime."

"Ok, seeya." Troy entered the elevator.

"Bye, Captain." Gabriella gave him one last smile as the doors closed. She let out a sigh. _Why does he have to be so gorgeous?_

Gabriella walked back in her room to find an eager Taylor.

"So, how was it?" Taylor asked.

"How was what?"

"Your kiss!" Taylor said excitedly.

"Ugh…we didn't kiss." Gabriella had a disappointed tone in her voice.

"Well, why not? I'm tired of hearing you say 'We didn't kiss'."

"Believe me, Taylor, I'm tired of saying it."

"What interrupted you this time?"

"Stupid Chad."

"I know they're friends, but why was Chad calling Troy at 8:00 at night?"

"That's right, you don't know…" Gabriella said slyly.

"Don't know what?"

"Chad's in town."

"He is?" Taylor's eyes lit up when she heard this.

"Yeah, he's staying with Troy. You can see him tomorrow, is you want."

"How? Are we going to break in to Troy's hotel room to see him?"

"No. Chad will probably be at the set tomorrow. You can come with me."

"Am I allowed to do that?"

"Chad was there this morning. Plus, I know the director personally." She said in a seductive voice, then they started laughing again.

**

* * *

**. 

**PS, sorry this chapter was kinda crappy, and really short. On the bright side, I get to go see Pirates 3 tomorrow!! WOOT!!!!!! I'm really excited!**


	12. Sweet Revenge

**After shattering his ankle in a skiing accident, and is no longer able to play basketball, Troy becomes a film director. Little does he know, the once love of his life, Gabriella Montez, is one of the actresses on his set. He also gets a big surprise from an old high school classmate. ****Troyella**** and ****Chaylor**

**A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for all of your reviews! ****I'm**** so excited that my story has more than 100 reviews! I am truly grateful for ****each,**** and every one of them! THANK YOU!**

**Also, there's alot going on in this chapter. I warn you, it's a marathon-er! It's almost 3000 words, that's how much of a marathon-er it is!! I worked really hard on this one, so I hope you enjoy it! Ok, without further adieu (except the disclaimer...) I present to you chapter 11 of _Lights, Camera, Action! _**

**Disclaimer: I ****don't**** own HSM.**

* * *

Gabriella and Taylor woke up at 6:30, so they could get to the set by 8:00 in the morning. Taylor knew that she was going to see Chad, so she took extra care in getting ready. She wanted Chad to see her at her best. 

"Hey, Gabriella, what should I wear?" Taylor asked. She was standing in the middle of the hotel room in her bathrobe.

"I don't know, just something casual, I guess. I really doesn't matter what you wear." Gabriella was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, putting make-up on. She had her robe on, too.

"Are you sure? I want to look…professional, I guess." Taylor let out a sigh.

"Well, you have to remember that you're going to have a lot of down time. I am scheduled to film for eight hours today. So, something comfortable would be smart."

"Yeah, but…" Taylor put her back to the bed, and flopped down on it.

"But what?" Gabriella came out of the bathroom, and flopped on the bed next to Taylor.

"I don't want to show up in my sweats."

"Why not? The only person that's there to impress is Troy, and that's only because he's the director…" Gabriella said.

"There's probably going to be someone else, too." Taylor said while raising her arm.

"Ah, yes…I forgot about Chad."

"Exactly. That's why I can't figure out what to wear. I want Chad to notice me."

"Uh huh...'She's a man eater!!'" Gabriella started singing.

"Ha! I'm the man eater…what about you?"

"Hey, I haven't eaten a man in six years." Gabriella said in a serious tone.

"What the crap?" There was a pause between them, and then they started laughing hysterically.

* * *

Gabriella and Taylor got to the movie set twenty minutes early, so Gabriella could give Taylor the grand tour. They walked in, and headed to the conference room. 

"This is where I met Troy for the first time on the set. This would also be the same location where I yelled at him."

"Really, how interesting." Taylor said, while nodding. They continued the tour.

"This is the room where I get my hair and make-up done. And further down the hall is Troy's office, I won't bother showing it to you."

"Why not? I want to see it."

"Ok then, follow me!" They walked down the hallway. Once they got to Troy's office, Gabriella knocked on Troy's door.

**Troy's POV**

_Knock, knock, __knock_

"I'm coming!" I wonder who's knocking at my door. It had better not be any bad news. Wait…

Before he opened the door, Troy pressed his ear against the door, because he could hear Taylor, and Gabriella through it.

"So, anything _special_ happen here?" Taylor asked.

"No, but almost…three times." Gabriella said. _Jeez, girls talk about weird things,_ Troy thought.

"Three times? Why don't you just go up to Troy, and plant one on him?"

"Taylor, you know I don't work that way. The moment has to be...right." Gabriella said.

"Right?" Just then, Troy opened up the door.

"Yes, right." Gabriella said. "Hi Troy!"

"Hello, ladies." Troy said. "What's right?"

"Me." Gabriella said simply.

"Alrighty then." Troy stepped out of the way, and let Taylor and Gabriella in to his office.

"Troy, it's ok that I'm here today, right?"

"Why wouldn't it be? Just as long as you don't go around destroying stuff, I'm ok with it."

"Ok, good." Taylor said. "You know Troy, this office is really nice."

"That's what everyone keeps telling me."

"Taylor, it's advisable that you don't start spinning in circles in Troy's chair. Chad did it yesterday, and got really sick." said Gabriella.

"That does sound like something Chad would do." Taylor said. "Speaking of Chad, where is he?"

"Oh, he's around somewhere, I guess. You know, if you wanted to find him, I would check the doughnut table."

"Ok." Taylor got up from her seat. "I'm going to go find him. I'll find you later, Gabriella."

"Ok!" Have fun!" Gabriella said in a peppy tone. Gabriella watched Taylor leave the office.

"So, how was your night after I left?"

"Oh my gosh, it was so much fun talking about you!" Gabriella said sarcastically.

"Oh, I'm sure. It's impossible to get enough of Troy Bolton." He said, with equal sarcasm. Gabriella broke out laughing.

"Right." She said.

**

* * *

**

Taylor wandered around the set, looking for Chad. She was having no luck for five minutes. She decided to take Troy's advice, and look over by the doughnut table.

"There you are!" Taylor said while walking up to the table. Chad turned his head around to see who was talking. Unfortunately, his mouth was stuffed full with doughnuts.

"Twawuh?" Chad said. Taylor just stood there, and shot him a confused look. Chad took the time to swallow his doughnut, and tried speaking again. "Taylor?"

"Hey Chad." Taylor said with a smile.

"How's it going?" He wanted to give her a hug, but before he did so, he wiped his hands on his pants to get the powdered sugar off them.

"It's going great, Chad." Taylor said while still hugging him.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it! Jeez, I've missed you after all of these years!"

"I have too, Chad." Taylor said sincerely, "It's been a long time." She gave him a meaningful look.

"So, what are you doing during while your here?"Chad asked.

"Nothing, really. I'm just supposed to 'kick back' while Gabriella is working."

"Ok, cool! We can hang out together."

"Sure! Do you want to explore the set with me?" Taylor asked.

"Sounds great, let's go!" Chad put down the doughnut he had in his hand, and started to look around the set with Taylor.

* * *

"It's amazing all of the things that they do here!" Taylor said in awe of all of the set pieces. They had been walking, and talking for about an hour by now. Chad walked up to Taylor, and placed his arm around her shoulder. She smiled, and placed her arm around his waist. 

"You know what? This is really cool. I've never been on a movie set before." Chad said. Taylor gave Chad another smile.

"Hey, do you wanna go and watch Gabriella and Troy at work? I think it would be cool to see how making a movie works."

"Sure, let's go!" They walked through the set, to find where Troy and Gabriella were filming. Chad still had his arm around Taylor's shoulder, and Taylor still had her arm around Chad's waist.

* * *

"CUT!" Troy shouted, "Alright guys, go ahead and take lunch. Just be back in thirty minutes, please." Just then, everyone dispersed off the set. 

"Holy crap! He really is here!" Taylor said, but only loud enough for Chad to hear.

"Who?"

"Ryan Evans!"

"Where? Whoa! He looks exactly the same!" Chad said.

"Hey guys!" Gabriella said to the still touching Chad and Taylor.

"Hey, Gabriella." Said a very distracted Chad. "Ryan!"

"Chad? Taylor? Wow! What are you guys doing here?" Ryan was somewhat excited to see them.

"Man, I haven't seen you in..." Chad was trying to think of the last time that he'd seen Ryan."

"I think it was high school graduation." Taylor said.

"So, are you two still together?" Ryan asked.

"Huh? Uh, no." Chad said quickly."We're just hanging out."

"Troy, this is all so interesting! I never would have guessed that so much work goes into making a movie." Taylor said.

"Thanks, Taylor. Yeah, it's a lot of work, but I love my job. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"Troy, it's so good to hear you say that." Taylor said.

"Hey, Troy, what's for lunch? I'm hungry." Chad complained.

"Um, I'll have Angie bring us lunch, and we can just eat in my office. Any objections?"

"Although I would love to join you, I actually have a lot of things to go over." Ryan said.

"Are you sure?" Gabriella asked.The gang started walking towards Troy's office. Gabriella stayed behind to talk to Ryan.

"Yeah, I'm a little behind of memorizing my lines, and stuff."

"Ok, but if you change your mind, we'll all be in Troy's office."

"Ok. Thanks, Gabriella." Ryan said with a smile. Gabriella stood there, and studied Ryan for a few seconds. He seemed tired, and overworked.

"Ryan, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just a little tired."

"Ok. Have fun memorizing your lines...I guess." She gave him a big hug. Gabriella started to walk away, "Hey Ryan? Remember to have fun once and a while, OK?" Ryan smiled, and gave her a nod.

* * *

"Ok, thanks, Angie…bye."Troy hung his cell phone, and stuck it back in his pocket. Gabriella had caught back up to Troy. Chad and Taylor were walking ahead of Troy and Gabriella in the hallway. 

"Ryan seemed like he had alot on his mind when I waas talking to him. He seemed really tired, too." Gabriella said.

"Really?" Troy said, but not in a unsensitive way.

"Yeah...but I not quite sure what to do about it, though." Gabriella said. "But, on the brighter side, Taylor and Chad seem to really be hitting it off."

"Really? Huh, I haven't noticed." Troy said. Gabriella smacked him in the arm.

"Are you kidding me?" Just then, they reached Troy's office, so their budding argument stopped.

"So, Troy, when is lunch getting here?" Chad asked, as he was rubbing his stomach.

"Whenever Angie brings it. She said that it would probably be about ten minutes." Taylor and Chad were sitting on the couch, and Troy and Gabriella situated themselves on the ground.

"So…what do we do until then?" Taylor asked.

"Hey, I know!" Chad said excitedly, "We should play Truth or Dare!"

"NO!" the other three said in unison. (A/N: Isn't that what they ALWAYS do in Troyella fics? OK people, let's gain a teeny bit more creativity!)

"Gee, sorry." Chad said with his arms raised in defense. "Well, I don't hear anyone else making a suggestion." Chad said, looking around the room. "Why can't we play truth or dare?" Chad was complaining by now.

"Chad, I have nothing against the game of Truth or Dare, I just don't want to play with you." Troy said.

"Hey! Why not?" Chad asked.

"Because you're the worst player of Truth or Dare in the history of the world. Ever." Troy said.

"I am not!"

"It's true, you are, Chad." Gabriella said. "One time, you dared me to jump off of the Empire State Building."

"What's wrong with that one?" Chad asked.

"A, I would have died, B, we were in New Mexico at the time." Gabriella said.

"Yeah, and then another time, you dared me to give my mom a hug." Taylor said.

"I don't see what's wrong with that one either." Chad said.

"No, there's nothing wrong with I, it just wasn't a very good dare." Taylor said.

"Then you dared me to punch you in the face." Troy said.

"Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking that time." Chad said. His enthusiasm for hte game started to die down.

"And then that one time, you dared Sharpay to-" Gabriella started.

"Ok, I get it! You guys don't want to play."

_Knock, knock, __knock_

"Oh, good! That should be the food." Troy said, getting up from his spot on the ground. "Hey, Angie!" Troy said after he opened the door.

"Hello, Mr. Bolton." Troy stepped out of the way of the door so she could get in to the office. "OH! Hello Miss Montez! I didn't see you there."

"Hey, Angie. How's it going?"

"Uh, I'm fine. Thank you for asking." She walked over to the table, and unloaded her arms of the food. Chad immediately shot up from the couch, and headed towards the table to get his food.

"Mmm…so hungry…" Chad said. He had a blank look on his face.

"And how are you doing Mr. Danforth?"

"Wha? Oh…I'm fine….just really hungry…" Chad never broke his gaze from the food.

"Jeez, Chad. Could you be any ruder?" Taylor said as she stood from the couch.

"Oh!" Troy said. "Sorry, Angie. This is Taylor McKessie. She's another high school buddy."

"Hello. Ms. McKessie." Angie said as she shook Taylor's hand. "Well, I must go. I have a million things to do!"

"Thanks again, Angie!" Troy said.

"Your welcome, Mr. Bolton. Ok, enjoy your lunches! Bye!"

"Bye!" The four said in unison. As soon as Angie left the room, Chad basically dove into the food. The rest stared at him in awe.

* * *

At the end of the day, Troy drove all of them back to the hotel Gabriella was staying. Chad and Taylor were in the back, Chad had his arm around Taylor's shoulder, and she was leaning against him. Gabriella was sitting in the front seat. She couldn't help but smile when she saw Chad and Taylor "cuddle". 

Once they arrived at the hotel, everyone walked up to Gabriella's room. On the elevator up to Gabriella's floor, Troy and Gabriella stood about four feet apart on one wall, and Taylor and Chad were hugging along the other wall. Troy had a disgusted look on his face, while Gabriella couldn't have a bigger smile. Once the elevator doors opened, Gabriella grabbed Troy's hand quickly, and dragged him out of the elevator.

"Whoa! What are you doing?" Troy said in a shocked tone. She was still holding Troy's hand while running down the hall towards her room. She only let his hand go to open the hotel room door. When she got it open, again, she grabbed his hand, and dragged him into the room.

"HA! Finally! Phew!" Gabriella said.

"What the heck was that for?"

"What? I wanted to give Taylor and Chad some privacy!"

"Privacy?! Gabi, they've had privacy the entire day."

"Shut up, Troy!" Gabriella had her face smushed against the door, and was looking through the peephole on the door.

"What?"

"I can't hear what they're saying when your talking!!"

"Jeez, sorry. Hey, tell me if they're about to kiss."

"Why?"

"Both of them have interrupted……uh…never mind."

"Troy, you're really weird." Gabriella started smiling, but it wasn't because of Chad and Taylor. Gabriella looked away from the door, and looked at Troy. He was sitting on the floor "Indian-style" and Gabriella's feet.

"Are they done yet?"

"I think they're almost done...oh wait! I think they're about to kiss!"

"That's my queue! Sweet revenge..." Troy said in demonic tone.

"What?" With that, Troy jumped up, and headed out the door.

"Hey, Troy." Chad said in an annoyed voice.

"What's up Chad?" Troy had a wide smile on his face. "Alright! Let's go! Good night, Taylor!" This time, Troy dragged Chad down the hall, and into the elevator. Taylor walked into the hotel room, with a disappointed look on her face.

"Stupid Troy." Taylor said.

"Soooo, what did you guys talk about out there." Gabriella had a stupid smile plastered on her face.

"Nothing really." Taylor said. "Buuuuuuut…Chad asked me out on a date!" Gabriella ran over to Taylor, and they started 'happy dancing together'.

**

* * *

****There's**** a little ****Chaylor**** thrown in to the mix! The next chapter will be their date, and I promise to update sooner! OK! Thanks! Oh, and that was a really REALLY long chapter!! Sorry to those who prefer shorter chapters!**

**PS, please leave me a review! It'll only take a couple of seconds, I promise!**

**PPS, I'm sorry, but I LOST THE GAME!!!!! Sorry, to those of you who know what I'm talking about, it required that you leave me a review. For those who want to know what I'm talking about...I might tell you later.**


	13. A Walk to Remember

**After shattering his ankle in a skiing accident, and is no longer able to play basketball, Troy becomes a film director. Little does he know, the once love of his life, Gabriella Montez, is one of the actresses on his set. He also gets a big surprise from an old high school classmate. Troyella and Chaylor.**

**Hey peoples! This chapter is the Chaylor date. Please leave a review, and tell me what you think of this chappie…I think you're all going to love it. If you read my other fic, you know about the "I'm a Proud and Frequent Reviewer Club." Please join! The only thing you have to do is leave a review after you read this chapter! Also, don't forget to check out a picture of everyone's outfits in my profile!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM, or Target shopping centers. **

* * *

It was 6:30 pm, and Gabriella just got off work. She was heading back to the hotel to help Taylor get ready for her date. 

"Hey Taylor!" Gabriella said as soon as she walked into the hotel room. "How was your day?" she asked.

"Complete suckage." Taylor complained.

"Awe…what's wrong?"

"I'm just completely stressed out about my date with Chad tonight. I have no idea how I should do my hair, or my make-up. I'm really not sure what to wear because Chad never told me what we are actually doing."

"Don't worry about that. I'll do your hair and make-up. We still have plenty of time!"

"Actually, we don't. Chad said he's coming to pick me up at 7:30, and it's 6:30 right now."

"Ok, so we don't have a lot of time…let's get going!" Gabriella said as she stood from her chair. Taylor always appreciated Gabriella's optimism in situations like these.

* * *

**With Troy and Chad**

Troy had just gotten back to his hotel room at around 6:45 from work. When he opened the door to his hotel room, Troy found a ghastly sight.

"Awe…sick, Chad!" Troy said as he raised his hand to shield his eyes.

"What?" Chad asked in complete ignorance.

"Man, if you're going to stay here, at least do me a favor, and put a pair of pants on."

"What? You don't think I'm sexy?" Chad said, while stroking his leg.

"Chad, that's disgusting…"

"Alright, I'll put some pants on."

"Don't you have a date with Taylor tonight?"

"Yeah. I'm picking her up at 7:30."

"Aren't you going to get ready? It's 6:50 already."

"I still have plenty of time."

"Whatever you say…"

"Speaking of my date with Taylor tonight, could you vacate the premises at around 8:30?"

"Man, you really think that Taylor is going to-"

"Hey, don't shoot my self-confidence down."

"Whatever, just call me when it's ok to come back."

"Sure." Chad said, while nodding his head.

**

* * *

**

**With Gabriella and Taylor**

"I think you should wear the white top, and the shorter skirt." Gabriella said.

"Yeah, but what about this dress?" Taylor was holding up a red dress.

"I think that one is too fancy."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. Just wear the skirt, and this top… and those flats. If the date ends up being casual, or if it's fancy, you're ok."

"Ok, you've convinced me."

"Let me do your make-up before you put your date clothes on."

"Ok." Taylor walked over, and sat in the chair that was in front of the bathroom mirror.

"I love doing make-up. It's the only kind of art that I'm good at." Gabriella said.

"Well, that's a relief. Hey, not to rush you, or anything…but it's 7:29."

"Don't worry. Knowing Chad, he'll be fifteen minutes late..."

_Knock, knock, knock_

"…or not." Gabriella said. She left Taylor at the mirror, and went to get the door. "Chad! You're on time…how punctual. Taylor's not ready yet."

"Ye-" Chad was interrupted by Gabriella slamming the door in his face.

"Ok. I bought us at least five more minutes." Gabriella said.

Ten minutes later, Taylor was all dressed and ready. "Awe." Gabriella said with a smile. "You look so gorgeous."

"Thanks." Taylor said while hugging Gabriella. "Ok, I think I'm going out there now."

"Ok! Have fun!" Gabriella said. She followed Taylor to the door, and closed it behind her. Gabriella stood there with her face smushed against the door, like she did the previous night, so she could spy on them. "Awe…they're so cute." Gabriella said to herself.

When Chad and Taylor had disappeared from her sight, Gabriella turned around, and looked at her hotel room. After gathering up all of the scattered articles of clothing, she decided to lie down, and watch TV. The only thing that semi-appealing to watch was, "A Walk to Remember."

"I guess this is good enough." Gabriella said to herself.

**

* * *

**

**With Chad and Taylor**

Chad had been driving around for around 20 minutes. Taylor was beginning to wonder if Chad was lost.

"Did I tell you that you look beautiful, yet?" Chad asked.

"Yes, you have." Taylor said with a smile.

"Well, you do."

"Thanks. Uh, Chad…do you know where we're going?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because that's the fourth time that we've passed that sign."

"Don't worry, I know where I'm going. We're almost there." Chad said with a smile.

"Ok." Taylor said.

**

* * *

**

**With Troy**

Chad had left thirty-five minutes ago, and Troy was bored out of his mind.

"It's only 8:00? Holy crap…I don't think I've ever been this bored. Whatever, I'm getting out of here." Troy picked up his laptop, and drove to the nearest coffee shop. Once he got there, Troy ordered a large cup of hot cocoa. He found a big comfortable chair to sit on, and sipped his cocoa while surfing the net on his computer. (A/N: how exciting…lol)

**

* * *

**

**With Chad and Taylor**

"Ok, we're here!" Chad said excitedly.

"Uh, Chad, this is a Target. Are you sure we're here?"

"Yup. Why, do you want to do something else?"

"Chad, I have no idea what we're actually doing."

"Well, trust me then. I promise, it's going to be really fun." They got out of the car, and walked into the store before Chad actually told Taylor what they were doing.

"Ok, Chad what are we gonna do?"

"While we're here, we're going to pick out clothes for each other."

"Huh?"

"I'm going to pick out clothes for you to wear, and you'll pick out clothes for me, then we'll go and try them on. You have to wear what I pick, and the same goes for me. Does that make sense?"

"Sounds like fun!"

"I told you so. Ok, now…GO!" Chad said enthusiastically. With that, Taylor went off to find clothes for Chad. Chad did the same for Taylor.

**

* * *

**

**With Gabriella**

It was about 8:15, and Gabriella was getting quite depressed watching "A Walk to Remember". She had nothing else to do, so she kept watching the movie anyways. She felt an overwhelming sense of joy when she heard her cell phone ring.

"Hey Taylor!" Gabriella said excitedly.

"Uh, hi Gabriella. You sound particularly excited."

"Well actually, I'm bored, and really depressed."

"You're depressed?" Taylor asked while filing through the men's clothes at the store.

"Yeah, I'm watching "A Walk to Remember" and it's at the part where they find out that Mandy Moore's character has cancer."

"Oh, that part is depressing."

"Anyways, what are _you _doing Miss Taylor?"

"Actually, I'm at Target."

"Target? Why?" Taylor told Gabriella all about the activity that she and Chad were doing at Target.

"That sounds like so much fun!" Gabriella said. "You should make Chad wear a bikini top, and high heel shoes."

"Hmm…that sounds like a really good idea." Taylor said deviously. "Ok, Gabriella. I'm gonna let you go."

"Alright Taylor! Seeya!" As soon as she hung up the phone, Gabriella started feeling depressed again. "I don't want to stay around here all night." Gabriella said to herself. She changed into a pair of jeans, and a black t-shirt. Gabriella tied her hair in a ponytail, and slipped on her flip-flops. She decided to walk around the hotel for a while.

**

* * *

**

**With Troy**

Troy had finished his cup of hot cocoa, and was tired of messing around on his computer. He pulled out his cell phone, and called Gabriella to see what she was doing.

"Hey, this is Gabriella's cell phone. Leave me a message after the tone, and I'll get back to you later. _Beep!_" Troy hung up his cell phone. For some reason, he didn't bother leaving a message on Gabriella's phone.

**

* * *

**

**With Chad and Taylor**

Chad and Taylor were both in the dressing rooms, trying on what they picked out for each other.

"Jeez, Chad. Could you be anymore color blind?" Taylor said through the dressing room wall. "I mean come on…burnt orange and baby pink?"

"Hey, you didn't do much better. So, are you ready?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, come on out." Chad said. When Taylor opened the door to the dressing room, they both started laughing hysterically at each other. Taylor had picked out bright red cheer leading shorts, a white muscle shirt, and a pair of blue flip-flops that had a big flower on the strap for Chad.

"Wow, Chad. You've got hot legs." Taylor said while giggling.

"See? I knew my legs were sexy." This made Taylor laugh some more. Chad picked out a baby pink tank top, a yellow sweater, and a burnt orange knee length skirt. "Taylor, I must say…you look like the librarian from hell." Chad said in between his laughter. This earned Chad a playful smack in the arm from Taylor.

"Ok, I think you've seen enough."

"Let's get changed, and we get out of here and go to the next part of the date."

"Sounds good to me." Taylor said.

**

* * *

**

**With Gabriella**

It was around 8:45 now, and Gabriella was in a lounge chair by the indoor pool. She figured she might as well be bored somewhere else, besides her room. She reached for her cell phone to call Troy, but remembered that she left it in the hotel room. Gabriella didn't feel like walking all the way back up to her room to get it. She looked outside, and noticed that the sun had completely gone down. She got up, and walked outside, next to the outdoor pool. (A/N: Let's just pretend that this hotel has an indoor, and an outdoor pool.) Gabriella was only standing a few feet away from the edge of the pool. She tilted he head back, and looked at all the stars. She stood there for a while, trying to comprehend the vastness of it all. When she brought herself back into reality, Gabriella began for walk around the perimeter of the pool.

"What are you doing?"

"Huh?" Gabriella didn't bother to look at the person who was talking to her. She figured it was one of her fans.

"What are you doing?" Gabriella looked up, and this time a smile came across her face.

"Nothing…just walkin' around. How long have you been standing there?" She kept making her way around the pool.

"I've been watching you the whole time."

"You know Troy, I think that's called stalking." Gabriella said sarcastically.

"Well, you'll get over it." Troy said. He was making his way over to Gabriella.

"Oh really?" Gabriella said.

"Yup."

"Well, I'm glad you make things so simple."

"Life would be a lot harder if I didn't." Troy was almost to Gabriella now.

"I'll have to try that one of these days."

**

* * *

**

**With Chad and Taylor**

After they changed back into their normal clothes, Chad and Taylor headed back to the car.

"So what are we going to do now?" Taylor asked after they'd been driving for a few minutes.

"Ok, consider our first adventure the fun part of the evening. Our second adventure is going to be a little more romantic."

"Ooh…that sounds good to me, I like romantic things."

"Ok, we're here." Chad said.

"Really? That was quick."

"Yeah, well…I wasn't lost like I was before." Chad got out of the car, and walked back to the trunk. Taylor followed him.

"Ha! I knew it! I knew you were lost." Taylor said while pointing her finger at Chad.

"Hey, grab that bag of marshmallows, would you?" Chad said. He started to walk away with a big pile of blankets. Taylor wasn't sure where they were. She just followed wherever Chad was going, which was down a sandy path.

"Chad, where are we?"

"At the beach, silly." At that moment, Taylor could see the moonlit ocean. There was a fire going on the shore.

"Oh, Chad. This is so beautiful." Taylor said. Chad walked over to the fire, and put some blankets down in the sand for them to sit on. "Wait, what are the marshmallows for?"

"So we can roast them over the fire." Chad said.

"Sounds fun." Taylor said.

"And delicious." Chad added. Chad handed a stick, and a few marshmallows to Taylor, so she could roast a couple of them. Taylor looked down at the marshmallows in her hand, and decided to throw one.

"Hey, Chad?" As soon as Chad looked over at Taylor, he received a face full of marshmallows.

"Oh, girl…don't get me started." Chad said in a tone that made Taylor laugh.

"Oh yeah?" Taylor threw another one at Chad.

"Ok, I warned you!" Chad started chasing Taylor, who had dropped her stick, ran away laughing. Chad caught Taylor, and started tickling her. She begged for mercy for him to stop, and he did…eventually.

**

* * *

**

**With Troy and Gabriella**

"It's such a beautiful night. You can actually see stars." Gabriella said.

"Yeah, that doesn't happen very often in Los Angeles." The two of them were sitting in lounge chairs, looking up at the sky.

"So, Troy, what inspired you to come and stalk me?"

"Um…I was just really bored."

"Really? I bored out of my mind, too."

"Well, isn't that a coincidence?"

"I'd say so." Gabriella got up, and walked over by the swimming pool. Just then, a devious thought popped into her head. "Hey, Troy…come here."

"Why don't you come here? I'm perfectly comfortable where I am."

"Please come here? I want to show you something." She said sweetly.

"Fine." He walked over to Gabriella. "What is it?"

"THIS!!" Just then, she pushed Troy into the pool. He grabbed Gabriella's wrist at the same time, causing her to fall in, too. Troy came to the surface of the water laughing his head off.

"You know, I half expected you to do that." Troy said while laughing.

"Oh yeah? Well, you're in big trouble, mister." Gabriella was shivering from the cold water. Gabriella swam to the side of the pool.

"Wait, why am I in trouble?"

"Because you pulled me into the pool."

"You pushed me."

"I guess you have a point there." Gabriella started laughing, too.

* * *

**With Chad and Taylor**

After Chad stopped tickling Taylor, they decided to actually roast the marshmallows this time. Chad was roasting them like a pro. Taylor, on the other hand, wasn't having such luck.

"Ah! It's on fire again! Blow it out Chad!" Taylor said while waving her flaming marshmallow around.

"Taylor, that's the fifth marshmallow you've burned to a crisp. Why don't you make yourself comfortable on those blankets, and I'll bring you a perfectly toasted one."

"Ok…sounds good to me." Taylor went, and sat down on the blankets, waiting for Chad to sit next to her. "Are you done yet?"

"Nope. These kinds of things take time." After he finished with the marshmallow, Chad handed it to Taylor, still on the stick.

"Are you going to sit next to me?" Taylor asked.

"Sure." Chad said with a smile.

"Good." Taylor returned the smile. After Chad sat next to her, she began to eat the marshmallow. "Mmm…I must say, you are the marshmallow roasting master."

"Well thank you." Chad said. He scooted closer to Taylor. "You have a little bit of marshmallow on your lip." Chad placed his hand on the side of Taylor's face, and cleaned the marshmallow off with his thumb. He kept caressing her lip for a moment. Then, Chad moved in to kiss Taylor. She closed her eyes in preparation for the moment. As soon as their lips touched, it sent sparks through their bodies.

"Wow." Taylor said after she broke away.

"Was that a good wow, or a bad wow?" Chad asked.

"A good wow…a very good wow." Taylor said.

"Well good, I'm gl-" Chad was interrupted again. This time, by Taylor's lips.

**

* * *

**

**With Troy and Gabriella**

"So tell me something, Gabriella."

"What?"

"Why did you push me into the pool?" Troy and Gabriella were still floating around in the pool.

"I dunno…I felt like, I guess. Why did you pull me in?"

"I figured that if I was going down, I might as well take you with me."

"Well, I'm really cold now. I'm getting out." Gabriella said as she swam to the steps of the pool.

"Ok, I guess I should get out, too." Troy said. He followed Gabriella out of the pool.

"Oh, man…I'm freezing!" Gabriella said as she was wringing the water out of her hair.

"Here." Troy went a got a towel off of the shelf, and wrapped it around Gabriella.

"Thanks." She said with a smile.

"Wow…your lips a blue!" Troy said. "You must be really cold." Troy started rubbing Gabriella's sides and back, trying to warm her up. After a little while, Troy just brought Gabriella into a hug. She smiled when this happened.

"I just can't get over the stars." Gabriella said in a calm, soothing voice. "They're so beautiful."

"They're not as beautiful as your eyes." Troy said. Gabriella stopped looking at the stars when Troy said this. She looked hard into his eyes to try and tell what he was thinking. At that moment, she knew that Troy loved her as much as she loved him. Gabriella stood up on her toes, and just kissed Troy. This caught Troy by surprise.

"Whoa…what are you doing?" Troy said.

"Uh…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. Wow... I feel stupid now. I mean, Why would you-"

"Gabi, would you shut up?" Troy moved in, and kissed her passionately. Gabriella was instantly warmed up, and deepened the kiss. The best part was, there were no interruptions…finally.

**

* * *

**

**I told you that you'd like this chapter! Was I right? Huh, Huh, Huh?**

**Well, just because they kissed, doesn't mean that the story is over. I still have a few curveballs up my sleeve. **

**Ok! Don't for get to become a member of the "I'm a Proud and Frequent Reviewer Club" today! Leave a review, and tell me what you think!**


	14. Starry Nights and Mexican Food

**After shattering his ankle in a skiing accident, and is no longer able to play basketball, Troy becomes a film director. Little does he know, the once love of his life, Gabriella Montez, is one of the actresses on his set. He also gets a big surprise from an old high school classmate. Troyella and Chaylor.**

**Hello everyone! Again, thank you for all of your reviews! Although, I wouldn't mind getting more. The more reviews I get, the faster I'll update! Thanks again! Also, I'm going to be in California for the rest of the week, so I probably should leave you guys with an update…**

**PS. This chapter picks up exactly where the last one ends. And, you might not like my so much after this one, either. I guess our relationship is like a roller coaster.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM. (Oh! Sami, when you decide to buy Corbin, tell me. I wouldn't mind contributing to the fund!…j/k…unless you actually buy him)**

* * *

"Wow…" Gabriella said. "…that was a good kiss." 

"Just good? It wasn't great?" Troy asked.

"No, you've done better work in the past." Gabriella said while giggling.

"Gee, thanks." Troy said while smiling. "So, are you still cold?"

"Yeah, but not as much as before. Do you want to go back up to my room to dry off?" Gabriella had a tone of innocence in her voice.

"Um…sure." Troy wasn't sure of what he thought Gabriella meant. He shrugged his shoulders, and followed Gabriella back up to her room.

The whole walk up to Gabriella's room was awkward for some reason. They walked far apart from each other; they didn't talk to each other, or even look at each other that much, until they got into the elevator.

"Well," Troy started to say when they walked into the elevator, "that was awk-"As soon as the doors closed, Gabriella pulled Troy to her, and started playfully kissing him.

"-ward." Troy said as soon as they broke away to breathe.

"You were saying?" Gabriella said playfully.

"Uh…nothing." Troy said with a smile. They kept kissing until they reached Gabriella's floor. When the doors opened, Troy looked at them, and let out a groan. It seemed like he was wishing they would close. Gabriella took the hint, and pushed one of the buttons so the doors would close.

"Thank you." Troy said.

"You're welcome." Gabriella pulled Troy back in to keep kissing. They rode the elevator up and down about 4 times, until it landed back on Gabriella's floor.

"Well," Gabriella said reluctantly, "should we get off this time?"

"I guess." Troy said sadly. Gabriella practically dragged Troy off the elevator, and towards her room.

"Poor Troy." Gabriella said sarcastically. She stood in front of her door, and dug through her purse, trying to find the key. "Stupid key."

"What's a stupid key?" asked Troy.

"My room key. I can't find it…it's hiding in my stupid purse." Gabriella kept digging.

"Oh, so now your purse is stupid, too?"

"Yup…A HA! I found it!" Gabriella held up her room key in triumph.

"Wow…so enthusiastic over a room key…" Troy commented. Gabriella put the key into the slot on the door, and opened it.

"WOAH!" Gabriella shouted. She shot behind Troy to shield her eyes.

"What?" Troy hadn't walked into the room yet. "woooah…"Troy said, but not as frantically as Gabriella. They had walked in on Chad and Taylor almost doing more than making out. (A/N:…if you catch my drift)"Alright guys…let's keep it G rated, please." Troy stated.

"Grr…" Chad said while getting off of Taylor. Taylor started blushing.

"Yeah…sorry about that." Taylor said while fixing her skirt.

"Hey…" Chad said slyly. "…why are you guys here together? And why are you all wet? Why do you look so nervous?"

"Well, I got bored…and Gabriella, she-" Troy started frantically.

"Yeah, I was walking outside, and-" Gabriella said nervously.

"-and then I decided to visit, then-" Troy interrupted.

"-then I got bored and pushed Troy in the pool-"

"-and I dragged her with me-"

"-then we came up here to…-" Gabriella hesitated a bit.

"-dry off." Troy said awkwardly.

"Ok." Chad said with a stupid smile. Gabriella started blushing now.

"What where you guys doing?" Troy asked in the same tone as Chad.

"I would care to not disclose that information." Chad said.

"Yeah, whatever…"Troy said.

"Here, Troy." Gabriella had gone into the bathroom, and gave Troy a towel to dry off.

"Thanks."

"It's kinda late." Gabriella said. "Should we say our goodbyes?"

"Sure." Taylor said.

"We'll go outside this time, Taylor." Gabriella took Troy's hand, and led him outside.

"Tonight has been fun." Troy said.

"Really fun…I especially enjoyed pushing you into the pool."

"Well I especially enjoyed pulling you into the pool."

"Yeah, you're still not off the hook for that one."

"Oh really?" Troy said authoritatively

"Yeah." Troy leaned down, and gave Gabriella a short, but passionate kiss. "Goodnight, Gabriella Montez."

"Goodnight…Captain." Just then, Chad came out of Gabriella's room.

"You're still calling me captain?" Troy asked.

"Hey, you told me to." Gabriella said with a smile. Troy returned the smile.

"Dude, you ready to go?" Chad asked.

"Sure."

"Goodnight Gabriella." Chad said.

"'Night, Chad." Gabriella said. She flashed one more smile in Troy's direction before returning to her room. Taylor was standing outside next to the open door.

"Did I see right, or were my eyes deceiving me?" Taylor asked.

"About what?" Gabriella pretended to not know what Taylor was talking about.

"Did I just see you kiss Troy…on the lips?" Gabriella looked down the all to make sure that Troy and Chad were gone, and gave Taylor a questioning look.

"So? Did you?" Taylor asked again.

"…um…"Gabriella hesitated to tell Taylor the truth. "…we may have possibly…kissed." She said slowly, in a soft.

"You did?!" Gabriella nodded. "Really?!"

"Shh!!" Gabriella put a finger over her mouth.

Taylor seemed more excited than Gabriella. "Why am I more excited than you? I mean, come on! You're the one who kissed him!" Gabriella pushed Taylor into the hotel room, and closed the door.

"I don't want this news out." Gabriella wasn't sure how she felt about the whole situation yet.

"Why not?"

"I don't want my personal life plastered all over the tabloids."

"So…you're happy then, right?" Taylor asked. Gabriella started smiling, and blushed a little. "Awe!!" Taylor said as she pulled Gabriella into a hug. "Hey Gabriella, guess what."

"Huh?" She said after their hug.

"You kissed Troy!"

"I know!!" They started jumping around excitedly, like they should have the first time.

**

* * *

At work the next day**

Gabriella got to work early, as usual. She expected to see Troy running around the set, but she didn't see him anywhere. Gabriella decided to look for Troy in his office.

_Knock, Knock, knock_

"Come in!" Troy said. Gabriella let herself into Troy's office.

"There you are." Gabriella said.

"Here I am."

"I expected to see you running around the set." Gabriella was walking towards Troy, who was sitting down on the couch.

"I decided to let all of my assistants take care of things this morning."

"Is that so?" Gabriella smiled.

"Yup." Gabriella went to sit next to Troy on the couch. "No, sit here." Troy directed Gabriella to sit on his lap.

"Well, good morning Mr. Bolton." Gabriella said after she sat on his lap.

"Good Morning, Ms. Montez." Gabriella leaned down, and kissed Troy.

"So, any regrets?" Gabriella asked after breaking away from Troy.

"About what?"

"About this, and what happened after I pushed you into the pool."

"The kiss? Well, I do have one regret."

"You do?" Gabriella said questioningly. "Well, then." She started to get off of Troy's lap, but he stopped her.

"You didn't let me finish." Troy kept Gabriella firmly of his lap. "My only regret is that I didn't kiss you sooner." Troy smiled, and kissed Gabriella passionately.

"Wow…good answer." They kissed again.

"Hey look..." Troy said.

"What?"

"No interruptions..." They both smiled, and began to kiss again.

_Knock, knock, knock_

"…or not." Troy said. "Come in!" Angie walked into the office.

"Good morning Mr. Bolton, Ms. Montez" As soon as Gabriella saw it was Angie at the door, she scrambled off of Troy's lap.

"Good morning, Angie." Troy said. He was rubbing his mouth to make sure that he didn't have any of Gabriella's lip gloss smeared on his face.

"Everything is ready to go to begin shooting for today."

"Oh, ok. Thanks Angie." Troy sounded a little disappointed. Angie left the office, and Troy sighed.

"I guess we should get to work." Gabriella said.

"I guess…" Troy said. Gabriella got off the couch. Troy wasn't moving, so she grabbed Troy be the hand, and tried to pull him off the couch, but I wasn't working too well.

"Come on, lazy bum!" Gabriella said. She gave up trying to pull Troy off the couch, and let go of his hand.

"Alright, alright." Troy got up on his own this time.

"I'm going to go to hair and make up. Seeya in a few!" Gabriella gave Troy a peck on the cheek, and left his office.

"Bye." Troy said as Gabriella left Troy's office.

"Oh! Hey Ryan!" Gabriella said.

"Hey, Gabriella." Ryan still seemed tired, like before.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired, that's all."

"You just don't seem like yourself…you know, more 'peppy'."

"I've just been really stressed, lately. I haven't been sleeping very well, either."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Ryan." She stopped, and pulled Ryan into a tight embrace.

"Thanks, Gabriella."

"Hey, it's no problem at all." She smiled at Ryan. "Hey, do you want to get dinner after we're done today?"

"Um, I don't know…"

"Please? It's my treat."

"Gabriella…"

"Come on, Ryan. It'll be completely casual, and fun. Plus, I won't take no for an answer, so you might as well say yes."

"Alright."

"See? I knew I could persuade you! Just meet me out front after we're done for the day. Sound good?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Great." Gabriella pulled him in for one last hug. She could hear him sigh as they embraced. Gabriella knew something else was wrong with Ryan, but she wasn't sure what it was.

* * *

At the end of the day, Gabriella went out front to wait for Ryan, only to find him already there. 

"Hey there, Ryan."

"Hey Gabriella."

"You beat me here!"

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"Hey, there's no need for an apology. Ready to go?"

"Yup."

"You like Mexican food, right?"

"It's one of my favorites."

"Oh, good. Because if you didn't, we couldn't be friends anymore." Gabriella said sarcastically. Her joke made Ryan start to laugh.

Once they got to the restaurant, Gabriella noticed that people were staring at them. She asked for a table that had privacy so that their fans wouldn't bother them. Once they sat down, and started eating, Gabriella noticed that Ryan started to loosen up, and relax.

"So, are you having a good time?" Gabriella asked.

"I'm having a great time, Gabriella. Thanks for inviting me out. It seems like all I do anymore is go to work, and go back to the hotel and go to sleep."

"Well, I'm glad to break you routine." Ryan laughed again. "I like it when you laugh. You should do it more often." Gabriella said.

"I'll try." Ryan started smiling more.

"Good." Gabriella smiled, too. They spent the rest of the night talking, and laughing about filming the movie. Once they finished their meals, Gabriella and Ryan left the restaurant only to be bombarded by paparazzi. They were both caught by surprise, and stood there for a few seconds, until Ryan snapped back into reality first.

"Come on!" He grabbed Gabriella's hand, and they started running down the street, trying to loose all of the photographers. They ran down the street, and turned down different streets, all in attempt to get out of the public eye.

"Phew! I'm so tired now!" Gabriella said after all of their running. They were now walking down some random street.

"Hey, look…a park." Ryan said. "Do you want to take a walk around it?"

"Ryan, it's almost completely dark out here."

"All the more reason, it's a good hideout from the paparazzi. And it's a beautiful night. It would be a shame if we spent it inside."

"Sure let's go." They walked into the park for a while, until Gabriella spotted the swings. "Oh…"Gabriella said.

"What?"

"I'll race you to the swings!" Right then, Gabriella raced off, and Ryan chased behind her. "Ha! I won!"

"That's only because I let you win."

"Yeah right… I won fair in square. Girl power, baby." She said while nodding her head. She walked over to a swing, and sat on it. Ryan walked behind her, and began to gently push her. "Wow, I haven't done this since the fifth grade." Gabriella said.

"And yet somehow, you always remember how to swing. I guess it's like riding a bike."

"Maybe." Gabriella said. "I can't believe the stars are even more pretty tonight than they were last night."

"They're amazing." Ryan stopped pushing Gabriella, and they walked over to a bench. Ryan put his arm around Gabriella, and she leaned back against him so she could look at the sky.

"I think everyone just needs to stop sometime, and look around. If you don't you miss all of the beautiful sights."

"I completely agree." Ryan said. "Hey…would you like to dance?"

"But there's no music." Gabriella said after sitting up.

"I'll sing to you then."

"Well, if Ryan Evans is singing, then count me in." Gabriella said sarcastically. Ryan stood up, and took Gabriella's hand. Ryan began to hum "What I've Been Looking for" as they slow danced in the middle of a field. (A/N: The version the T&G sing…not the pop-ish one) Gabriella looked into Ryan's eyes. He wasn't looking at her at first, but then their glances connected. They forgot about the world, their problems, and work. After a few moments, they both started leaning in and their lips met in the middle. Gabriella and Ryan shared a soft, but passionate kiss. As soon as they broke apart, Gabriella remembered one important thing: Troy.

"Oh crap." She said.

**

* * *

**

There's Chapter 14 for ya. See, I knew you wouldn't like it. I'm SORRY!!! I had to do something, otherwise the story would be over! You have to see where I'm coming from….

**But anyways, please leave a review…even though you hate me right now. Bye!**


	15. A Lot of Stuff to Think About

**After shattering his ankle in a skiing accident, and is no longer able to play basketball, Troy becomes a film director. Little does he know, the once love of his life, Gabriella Montez, is one of the actresses on his set. He also gets a big surprise from a couple of old high school classmates. Troyella**

**What's up everyone? Thank you SO much for all of your reviews…even though most of them were telling me how much I am hated (T.T) That's OK, though. I still LOVE all of you, even though you hate me. Ok, let's move on.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM…but I am excited for HSM 2!! Woot!**

* * *

"Oh crap." Gabriella said after she broke away from Ryan. 

"What?" Ryan asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No…no you didn't do anything wrong." Gabriella tried to walk away, but Ryan grabbed her hand.

"What's wrong? Was it the kiss…because it seemed like you were leaning in, too. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed it."

"No, don't worry…it's nothing." Gabriella lied. She didn't want to make Ryan even more stressed out.

"Ok then." Ryan said. Gabriella gave him a smile, and they kept walking through the park. Gabriella expected things to be awkward between Ryan and her, but it wasn't. After a while, they decided to walk back to Gabriella's hotel room.

"Thanks for a fun night." Gabriella said. They were standing in front of her hotel room door.

"Hey, thanks for insisting on taking me out tonight." Ryan smiled. Gabriella laughed a little.

"You're quite welcome." Gabriella smiled too.

**

* * *

**

**Chad and Taylor**

"Thanks for taking me out again tonight, Chad." Taylor said. Chad and Taylor had just pulled into the hotel parking lot. Chad got out of the car, and opened the door for Taylor.

"You are very welcome."

"You must be getting sick of me by now." Taylor said.

"Taylor, I could never get enough of you." Chad said. Taylor smiled at Chad, and then pulled him in for a kiss.

"You're so sweet." Taylor said as they were walking through the hotel lobby.

"Yeah, I know…. that's what they all tell me." Chad said sarcastically. Taylor smacked Chad in the stomach.

"Yeah…right."

**

* * *

**

**With Ryan and Gabriella**

"So what's it like between you and Taylor after all of these years?"

"Oh, it's exactly the same. We're still best friends like before."

"That's great." Ryan said.

"Speaking of Taylor, I think she's out with Chad tonight…do you want to come in?"

"I'd love to, but I think I should head back to my hotel room. It's getting pretty late." Ryan said after looking at his watch.

"Ok. I'll see you tomorrow then!" Gabriella said.

"Seeya." Ryan said. He started walking down the hall, towards the elevator.

"Hey, wait!" Gabriella called after him.

"Yeah?" Ryan asked.

"I'll walk you to the elevators…just let me drop off my junk in my room."

"Oh, you don't have to…it's just down the hall."

"I want to."

"Ok…" Ryan said. Gabriella opened her door as fast as she could, then threw her purse into her room.

"Let's go." Gabriella said. They walked back down the hallway towards the elevator in silence. Once they got there, they stood in front of elevator doors for a few moments.

"Ok, I should go for real this time." Ryan said. Gabriella just looked at him, and didn't say anything. Ryan smiled at her, then he reached down to hold Gabriella's hand. This made Gabriella blushed a little on the inside. With his other hand, Ryan brushed a loose strand of hair out of Gabriella's face. He then slowly traced the outline of her ear with his finger. Gabriella blushed a little more in the inside. Ryan slowly leaned in to kiss Gabriella. She leaned in, too. Once again, their lips met in the middle. The kiss wasn't as soft as before, and it had even more passion. Gabriella ran her fingers through Ryan's hair, as Ryan caressed Gabriella's back.

**

* * *

**

**With Chand and Taylor**

Taylor and Chad had gotten in the elevator by now, and were on their way up to Gabriella's room. They were standing on opposite sides of the elevator.

"Hey…come here." Chad said.

"What for?" Taylor asked.

"Because I asked you to."

"Ok…" Taylor said. Chad opened his arms, and received Taylor in a tight hug. Taylor rested her head on his shoulder. They remained that way for the rest of the way up.

"This is nice." Chad said.

"I think so, too." Taylor said. Just then, the elevator doors opened. Chad and Taylor started to walk out of the elevator.

"Holy crap!" Taylor whispered. She pulled Chad back into the elevator as fast as she could, then began violently pushing one of the buttons to try and make the doors close.

"What was that about?" Chad asked when the doors finally closed.

"Did you see who was standing there when the doors opened?"

"No…it was just some random people making out."

"Oh my goodness…" Taylor said. She sat down on the ground, then rubbed her head.

"I still don't understand why you pulled me back into the elevator." Chad said.

"You didn't see who those people were, did you?"

"No, what's the big deal?" Chad said innocently.

"Um…it's nothing. I guess I just overreacted." Taylor lied. She didn't want to tell Chad that she saw Ryan and Gabriella kissing in front of the elevator.

"Do you want to go back up to Gabriella's room?" Chad said. He went and sat down next to Taylor.

"Um…I feel like getting some coffee. I think there's a coffee shop by the lobby."

"Ok." Chad got up off the ground, and pushed the 'lobby' button.

**

* * *

**

**With Ryan and Gabriella**

"Wow, Ryan," Gabriella said after breaking away from the kiss, "you are a really…good kisser." Gabriella was a little out of breath.

"Hey, I've been in 21 plays, 19 musicals, and 10 movies. And, I had stage kisses in almost all of them. Let's just say that I honed my 'kissing skills'."

"Huh…" Gabriella said.

"What?" Ryan asked.

"I honestly can't think up a come back for that one." Gabriella said while smiling, and shaking her head.

"Really? Wow…I feel special now." Ryan said mockingly.

"You feel special?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah! I have defeated 'The Gabriella Montez'!" Ryan said excitedly.

"Wow."

"What?"

"You are really weird." Gabriella said sarcastically.

"Thank you!" Ryan said with equal sarcasm. Gabriella started laughing.

"You are quite welcome." Gabriella said through her laughter.

"Ok, I'm actually gonna go this time."

"Alright." Gabriella said reluctantly. They gave each other one more hug, and Gabriella gave Ryan a kiss on the cheek. After stepping on the elevator, Ryan gave Gabriella a wave. Gabriella responded with a smile, and watched the doors close. She let out a sigh, and walked back to her room. After a few minutes of relaxing on her bed, Gabriella was interrupted by a loud knock on her door. "Jeez…" Gabriella got up and answered the door.

"What the crap was that?!" Taylor said immediately after Gabriella opened the door.

"What the crap was what?" Gabriella said confusedly as she closed the door.

"That stunt you pulled!"

"What…me opening the door? I'm sorry my door opening skills didn't meet your standards. Would you like me to try again?"

"That _wasn't_ what I was talking about!"

"What are you talking about, Taylor?"

"You know!" Taylor said angrily.

"Wow, could you be any more illusive?"

"I saw you and Ryan kissing!"

"You and Chad were in the park?"

"The park? No, I saw you kissing Ryan ten minutes ago in front of the elevators!"

"Did Chad see us kissing?" Gabriella said. She went and sat down on a chair.

"No. Luckily he's too dense to notice his surroundings."

"Good."

"Wait…what did you do with Ryan in the park?" Taylor followed Gabriella in the room, and sat on the edge of the bed.

"I may have possibly…kissed him…in the park"

"Gabriella! You can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"You know why that's wrong!"

"No, Taylor…why is it so wrong for me to kiss Ryan?"

"Because!" Taylor said. "You're with Troy." She said in a quieter voice.

"I'm not officially with Troy." Gabriella got up, and walked into the bathroom.

"Well, you better tell that to Troy, because he thinks you are!"

"No he doesn't."

"Gabriella…you're not this girl."

"What girl?

"The -It's Monday, so I'll be with Troy today, then Ryan tomorrow- girl. That's not you, Gabriella!"

"Why can't I?"

"What?" Taylor was confused.

"All throughout high school I was the freaky math girl. You know I was never popular. Boys were never attracted to me. Once in the ninth grade, Brett Mathews smiled at me. I thought he liked me, so I smiled back. But, it turned out he was just laughing at the spinach stick in my teeth. Troy was my one and only boyfriend, and look at how well that one lasted."

"Gabriella-"

"Taylor, it feels good being that girl. It feels good being wanted by more than just one boy. I like feeling like I'm popular."

"Gabriella, I wasn't popular either. I didn't even get a smile from Brett Mathews. I think I was an even bigger freaky math girl than you were. I still am! I'm like the super freaky math girl!"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you're better than all of this. I think it's sad you want to be the shallow girls that we made fun of back in high school. And, it would be different if you were dragging around two no name jerks off the street in this stupid game. But you are playing two very great guys that deserve a completely faithful girlfriend."

Gabriella couldn't think of anything else to say. She hadn't realized how she was acting before. She just changed into her pajamas, and went to bed. She stayed up for hours just thinking.

**

* * *

**

**Ok…I know what you're thinking. "How could Gabriella be so shallow?" I know, I know…but don't worry it'll get better... I promise! Please don't abandon my story and me now! **

**Gah! I hate this chapter too!**

**Seeya! Please leave a review!**


	16. Mystery Date

**I'm sorry for taking an even longer time than usual! I've just had major, MAJOR writers block! It's kinda crazy! Please forgive me for my tardiness/laziness/procrastination-ness…I'm SORRY!**

**Ok…this message is for Charli Quack, since I can't send you a private message. Thank you so much! I really love the review that you left me!**

**So, for all of you who are again, scratching their heads, and saying, "huh?" I try to reply to all of the reviews I get. But, since most of you don't review, you wouldn't know coughs lol, just kidding. Ok…let's get started. Please leave a review by the way!**

* * *

"Gabriella! Wait up!" Troy said. He was chasing around Gabriella, trying to get her attention before the workday started. 

"Huh?" She said before turning around. "Oh! Hey Troy." Gabriella said somewhat unenthusiastically.

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said while rubbing her forehead. "I just have a lot of things to think about. That's all."

"Are you sure? Because I've been chasing you for like five minutes now."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I've just really distracted lately." Gabriella said with a half smile.

"Is it anything that I can help you with?" Troy knew that there was something wrong about the way Gabriella was acting, and he wanted to find out what it was.

"Uh…no. I just need to get better sleep, that's all." She said hastily. Gabriella started to walk away from Troy, leaving him a bit confused.

"Hey," Troy said, grabbing Gabriella's arm to get her attention, "come here. Maybe this will help." Troy pulled Gabriella down a dark hall out of the way, and started kissing her playfully.

"Troy!" Gabriella said eagerly after a few kisses.

"What?" He asked mischievously. "Aren't you enjoying yourself?"

"We can't do this here." Gabriella's tone was very blunt.

"Do what?" Troy asked like he didn't know what Gabriella was talking about.

"Kiss! People might see us."

"Who cares if people see us?" Troy went in to kiss Gabriella again, but she turned her head before he could make contact.

"I do! I'm not entirely sure I want us to go public about our relationship yet."

"Why?"

"I…" Gabriella had to think of what exactly to say.

"What?…You…" Gabriella could tell Troy was getting a little annoyed with her.

"…I…I don't want the paparazzi following us everywhere we go."

"Guys with sunglasses and cameras mean that much to you?"

"No, Troy. It's just such a big hassle with them following us around, and we'd never be able to go out. Everything would be too much trouble"

"What, Gabriella. Is it the paparazzi that's the hassle, or is it me?"

"Troy…I never said that."

"Save yourself the 'hassle', Gabriella. I get it." Troy walked angrily away from Gabriella towards his office.

"Ugh." Gabriella let out in a sigh. She walked down the hall, and flopped down on a big brown leather couch. After a while, she ended up completely sprawling out on the couch. People tended to stare at her when they walked past her, but she really didn't care. When it was time to shoot her scenes, Gabriella became completely professional, like always. She didn't want anyone else, especially Ryan, to see that she and Troy were fighting. But, when she was finished filming her scenes for a while, Gabriella's "professional mode" switched off. She just walked off the set, and laid down on the very same couch just like before.

* * *

By the end of the day, Gabriella hadn't spoken to Troy once since their fight. Gabriella wanted to try and talk to him, but she didn't want to interrupt Troy from all of the things he was doing. Gabriella grabbed her purse, and headed towards the front of the studio, so she could go back to her hotel. 

"Ms. Montez!" Angie, Troy's assistant, called after Gabriella. She was half walking, and half jogging in effort to catch up to Gabriella, who was almost outside already.

Gabriella stopped walking, and turned around. "Oh, hello Angie." Gabriella said nicely.

Angie was a bit out of breath from chasing down Gabriella. "I forgot to tell you." She took a break to breathe.

"Yes?"

"I already lined up a car to take you back to your hotel. It's around the back entrance of the studio."

"Oh…that's ok. I'll just take this car back to the hotel."

"Please Ms. Montez, I insist you ride in the other car."

"Um…ok, if you insist." Gabriella walked all the way to the back of the studio. It was a long walk, so it gave her lots of time to think. She thought about Troy, and how to fix her problem with him. She also thought about Ryan, and the fun date they had the other day. She also thought about the cute pair of gold strappy heels she wore with her movie wardrobe today.

"Oh wow!" Gabriella said when she walked outside. Out there waiting for her was a black stretch limo.

"Good evening, Miss. My name is Adam." The driver of the limo said. He was slim, tall and had dark brown hair. Adam was in his late twenties. He was waiting outside the car, so he could open the door for Gabriella.

"Hello, Adam. Are you here for me?"

"Yes I am." He said.

"Who set all of this up?"

"I don't believe I am supposed to tell you."

"Alright." Gabriella said with a smile.

"Here you go." He said while opening the car door for Gabriella. Gabriella got into the limo, and immediately let out a sigh. She sat there a while, and just let Adam drive. After about fifteen minutes, Gabriella looked out the window, and noticed that she didn't recognize where she was. She figured that that Adam would take her back to the hotel, but that wasn't the case.

"Um, Adam?" Gabriella said after lowering the partition between her and the driver.

"Yes, Miss Montez?"

"Where are we going?"

"Again, I don't believe I am supposed to tell you."

"Ok…I'm getting a suspicion that I'm not supposed to know anything about this." Gabriella said.

"I think that suspicion you have is correct." Adam said.

"Can't you tell me anything?"

"Mmm…"

"One tiny detail?"

"I'm sorry, but no."

"Thanks a lot, Adam." Gabriella said with sarcasm.

"You're welcome, Miss Montez." He said with equal sarcasm. Gabriella raised the partition back up, and then sunk back in her seat. She noticed an envelope on sitting top of a wooded storage cabinet that was on the side of the limo. The envelope had the words 'Gabriella Montez' written out neatly in cursive on the front. Gabriella picked up the envelope, and read the note inside.

'_Look inside the cabinet_' were the only words written on the note.

"Ok, kinda weird." Gabriella said to herself. She dropped the note on the floor, and opened the doors to the cabinet. Inside there was a large, flat, white box with red bow on the front of it. Gabriella took the box out of the cabinet, and studied it for a while. She ran her fingers over the edges of the box, and through the velvety ribbon. Truth be told, she was a little hesitant to open the box, and see what was inside. After a few minutes of convincing herself to see what was inside, Gabriella finally decided to open the box. She took the lid off slowly, and placed it on the seat next to her.

"Oh, wow!" Gabriella said out loud. Inside the box was a beautiful, sleeveless, dark blue dress. Also in the box was a pair of silver high heels.

"Ooh." Gabriella said when she found something else in the box. It was a smaller black velvet box. Gabriella wasn't hesitant to open this box. Inside was a diamond necklace, and a pair of teardrop diamond earrings.

"Adam!" Gabriella said as she lowered the partition. "I think I know what your answer is going to be, but, who left me all of these things?"

"Again, I'm not supposed to tell you."

"Darn!"

"Although, I will tell you that we will be arriving to our destination-"

"Which is…" Gabriella interrupted. Adam ignored her, and kept going.

"We'll be arriving in about ten minutes, so I suggest you change into your dress."

"Alright." Gabriella raised the partition again, and began to change into her dress, and shoes. After she finished getting dressed, Gabriella dug around her purse for a while, and found some make up, and a very small mirror.

"Crap." Gabriella said as she was trying to put on her make up. The limo had just gone over a bump, causing her to mess up on her eyeliner.

"Hey, Adam," Gabriella yelled through the partition.

"Yes, Miss Montez."

"Could you take it easy over the bumps? I almost poked my eye out with that last one."

"Sorry…" Adam said.

About five minutes later, the limo stopped. It was about seven o'clock at night. Gabriella could hear the driver's door slam as Adam got out of the door.

"We've arrived." Adam said as he opened Gabriella's door.

"Thank you very much." Gabriella said after she climbed out of the limo. Gabriella didn't see much outside. There were a few buildings and trees, but that was it.

"Alright, Miss Montez, I was instructed to tell you to walk through those doors over there. Once you are inside the building, there will be more instructions." Adam pointed at the building that was taller than all of the other ones around.

"Oh…how James Bond-sey all of this is." Gabriella said.

"Ok, have a good evening Miss Montez." Gabriella walked inside the building Adam pointed to. There was no one inside the building for Gabriella to ask where to go. The only thing Gabriella found was a note on a counter like the one before. It had the same handwriting as before. This time, it was paired with a single red rose. Gabriella picked up the note, and read it's contents. Inside, it said,

'_Walk up the stairs until you find the next note.'_

Next to the counter was a door that said 'Stairs' on it. She opened the door, and started her trek up the stairs. Once she got to the 2nd floor, Gabriella found the next note taped to the wall. There was another rose on the ground directly below the note. Gabriella grabbed the note off the wall, and read it.

'_Keep going.'_

"Alrighty then." Gabriella said to herself. She kept walking up the stairs until she reached the 3rd floor. Then, Gabriella found another note taped to the wall, and another rose on the ground. This time, the note said,

'_Keep going, almost there.'_

"Oh, great." Gabriella picked up the rose, and kept going up the stairs. Gabriella kept up this routine until she reached the 6th floor.

"Crap…not another one!" Gabriella said when she saw the note taped to the wall. By this time she had 6 roses in her hand. The note this time said,

'_Exit through the door.'_

"Oh thank goodness." Gabriella said with a sigh. She exited the stairwell, and entered dimly lit room.

"Hello?! Is anyone in here?" Gabriella said. She could hear her voice echo. She walked around the room a bit to try and find who set all of this up.

"You look good."

* * *

**Ooh…a little cliffy!! Dun, dun, dun!!! Haha.**

**Ok peeps, I promise that I'll update more regularly! I don't know why, but the chappie took forever to write! It's not that I haven't been writing for a week, I've just rewritten this chapter maybe 4 times now. Have sympathy on me!! Lol.**

**Okie dokie Artechokies! Review!**

**Ps, I'll try to update on Mondays from now on!**

**PPS, check out my profile to see a picture of Gabi's dress, shoes, and jewelry.**


	17. Mystery Date Revealed

**I'm almost at 200 reviews guys! This makes me incredibly excited! It really motivates me to keep going when I hear from you guys, how much like my stories!**

**THANK YOU!!!**

**Ok, let's get started. This is basically part two of the last chapter, "Mystery Date."**

* * *

Gabriella heard the heels of his shoes clicking on the ground behind her. 

"You look good." He said. It was too dim for Gabriella to see his face, but she instantly recognized his voice.

"And I'm guessing it's all because of you." Gabriella said.

"That's right."

"You have great taste." Gabriella said in reference to her dress.

"Yeah, I had Angie go out and get you the dress."

"And the diamonds?"

"Yeah, those are borrowed…I'm sorry, but you can't keep those."

"That's ok..." Gabriella walked to him, and gave him a tight hug. "I'm sorry, Troy." Gabriella said into his ear.

"I'm sorry too, Gabriella. I overreacted today, and I shouldn't have."

"It's ok. I know you're under so much stress. And, I'm really not helping you any with that." They stared into each other's eyes for a few moments, just enjoying the moment.

"Well," Troy said after he snapped back into reality. "Should we get this date started?"

"Sure." Gabriella said eagerly.

"Let's go." Troy took Gabriella's hand, and lead her to the stairs.

"Awe…not more stairs!" Gabriella complained.

"Don't worry, there's an elevator over here." Troy said bluntly.

"Wait…there's a freaking elevator?"

"Yeeeah."

"Why did you make me walk up all of those stairs?"

"Because I wanted to build up the suspense." Gabriella shot Troy a mild glair.

"Weirdo." They walked over to the elevator, and got in. Troy pushed the '12' button.

"See? Aren't you glad I didn't make you walk all the way up to the twelfth floor?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…what ever you need to tell yourself to clear you conscience." Gabriella said sarcastically. Then, the doors to the elevator opened.

"Shall we?" Troy asked, putting out his arm for her to take.

"Sure." Gabriella said with a smile. She took a step forward, and entwined her arm with Troy's. Troy lead her to the roof of the building.

"Oh wow!" Gabriella said. "You can see the whole city from up here!" Gabriella stood against the guard railing to see as much of Los Angeles as she could.

"But wait, it gets better." Troy said with the tone of an auto salesman. He led her around the corner, revealing the real surprise.

Gabriella gasped when she saw what Troy had set up.

"Troy, I'm speechless. Everything is so beautiful." She stood up on her toes, and gave Troy a kiss on the lips. After the kiss, Gabriella walked around the roof, just trying to take in what Troy had done for her. She didn't want to forget anything about this evening.

The rooftop was decorated with hundreds of red roses, and glowing with white candles. In the middle of it all was a red velvet blanket, and a basket. It had been set up like a picnic.

"It's just like our secret hideout back at East High! This is so cool!"

"Believe it or not, Chad actually gave my the idea for this one."

"Really?" Gabriella said in disbelief.

"Yeah, I was going to do all of this to try and get you talking to me again, but that part already happened a while ago."

"And I'm glad it did." Gabriella said. She went over to Troy, and gave him another sweet kiss.

"Are you hungry?" Troy asked after a few moments.

"Yes…please feed me."

"Your wish is my command." They walked together towards the blanket, and sat down. They enjoyed a nice dinner, and laughed, and joked about life on the movie set while eating.

After they finished eating, Gabriella got up, and walked to the ledge of the building to look at the city lights. Meanwhile, Troy cleared the food and plates off of the blanket.

"Miss Montez, would you come here?" Troy called to get Gabriella's attention. He was lying down on the blanket with his arms folded behind his head.

"What's in it for me?" Gabriella said slyly as she walked slowly toward Troy.

"You get the opportunity to lay down with the "One and Only" Troy Bolton." Troy said while shaking his head up and down.

"Oh…it's my lucky day!" Gabriella walked over to Troy, and laid down with him. She snuggled against him, and placed her head on his chest.

They laid there looking at the twinkling night sky, just enjoying each other's presence.

"This is nice." Gabriella said in a calm tone.

"I like it, too." Troy said.

"Hey, you know what I'm wondering?" Gabriella said while sitting up.

"How many donuts Chad could fit in his mouth? Because that's what I'm thinking about." Troy sat up facing Gabriella.

"Uh, no…" Gabriella paused for a second. "Huh…I bet you he could probably fit three in his mouth."

"Three? Psh…I'd say more like six."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah. Chad's got a REALLY big mouth." Gabriella started giggling.

"But seriously…"

"Yeah?" Troy asked.

"When did you decide to become film director? I thought you were going to be Troy Bolton: The Basketball Superstar."

"You didn't hear about what happened?"

Gabriella shook her head 'no'.

"I guess being across the country from each other for seven years can restrict communication." Gabriella said.

"Yeah, I guess it could." Troy said. There was a pause between them.

"So, what happened?"

"Well, it's a long story." Troy's voice was a little hesitant.

"That's ok." Gabriella said with a smile. Troy took a breath in, and began his story.

"During my freshman year of college, the basketball team decided to go up to Tahoe for New Years'. On New Year's Day, my buddy, Travis and I decided to go skiing. Travis was a great skier. It was crazy how much talent this kid had. Now, you know I'm not a champion skier, but I'm still pretty good. I thought I'd be able to keep up with him. We were going down the slopes just fine, but then, I guess he decided to off of the trail. I was trying to follow him the best that I could, but he just zoomed ahead of me. Once I finally caught sight of him, he was going over a jump."

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Troy. But, what does skiing in Tahoe have to do with you going into film?"

"I'm getting there. I told you this was a long story."

"Oh, sorry. Please continue."

Troy cleared his throat.

"So, when I saw Travis go over the jump, I had to take the jump too so I could keep up with him. But, things didn't go as planned."

"Oh, no."

"When I went over the jump, my left ski hit against a tree, or bush, or some rock, and my skis weren't working right. When my ski got caught, what it should've done was unclip from the boot. Instead, they stayed firmly clipped together, which made the situation a lot worse that it should've been. I ended up breaking a couple of ribs from the fall, and since my leg got wrapped up in the tree/bush/rock thing, I hurt it pretty bad. I ended up breaking both of the bones in my ankle." Gabriella's mouth made an 'O' as she was looking at Troy.

"The left bone broke in three places, and the right one only had one break in it. I was in the hospital for weeks and weeks. It took five surgeries to get my ankle back together. I have four plates, and 21 screws in my leg. Once I started healing up, I had to do physical therapy. Let me tell you, that was a nightmare. I had to relearn how to use my ankle properly, and it hurt more than you could imagine. When I got to go back to school, I was so far behind in all of my classes. But that wasn't the worst part. It was the hardest when the doctor told me that I couldn't play basketball anymore. Basketball was the one thing that I was good at. When I was on the court, no one could touch me, I was invincible."

"So what actually made you decide to go into film?" Gabriella asked.

"Well, since I couldn't play basketball anymore, I figured that I should find something else I'm good at. I always like putting on productions, and stuff like that; I just never actually liked performing in them…if that made any sense."

"Sure."

"So, I figured that film would be a good thing for me to do. It's something I'll never get tired of doing. And plus, I'm behind the camera, not infront of it."

"Troy, I'm so sorry about all of this. All of your friends and family must've helped out a lot while you were in the hospital, though."

"My parents came out the first week, but it was getting too hard on them, being away from work and everything. As for my friends, they were great. But as the days went on, they sort of forgot about me, and moved on with their lives. For my last couple of weeks, I got excited when the nurse would come in, and change my IV. She was the only other person that I saw all day...man I sound pathetic."

"You're not pathetic." Gabriella said in a soft tone. "Why didn't you call me?"

"I thought about calling you a more than few times. But, I didn't want to go back and stir up all of those emotions again. Plus, I figured that since you were all the way in New York, you wouldn't want to come and visit."

"I would've come." Her voice was a little softer. "Does it still hurt?"

"My ankle? Not really anymore. It only hurts when it's really cold outside. But, for a couple of years afterwards, it hurt whenever I walked any long distance. So, getting from class to class was always hard for me."

"Can I see your ankle?"

"Sure." Troy rolled up his left pant leg, revealing his scar-coated lower leg. Gabriella gasped a little when she saw it. She slowly outstretched her hand, and gently placed it on his leg. Gabriella traced the lines of some of the scars.

"I can't even imagine how hard this must've been for you."

"It was definitely an experience I will never forget." Gabriella crawled over to Troy and gave him a hug.

"Troy, I'm so sorry."

"It's over and done with. There's nothing to be sorry about anymore. Plus, I think of it as a good thing."

"A good thing?"

"It's because of me breaking my ankle, I became a film director. And because I am the film director, we were able to get back together."

"That is true. Though I don't think I am worth all of that time, money, and pain." Gabriella said.

"Gabriella, if it meant getting you back, I would have done it all over again."

"No you wouldn't…that would be stupid."

"Gabi, you mean the world to me. I regret ever walking away from you in the first place. I'm just glad you gave me another chance." Gabriella couldn't say anything. She was speechless at how open and honest Troy was being.

"Wow."

**

* * *

**

**See? I told you I would update faster...and I did! WOOT!**

**Ok! Please leave me a review! I love reading them…even the not-so-kind ones!**

**Alright, each and everyone of you are awesome! Have a good day!**

**PS. the idea for this chapter was Chad's Plan…all the way back from chapter 4…if you can remember back that far. So, thanks to Alaska LoveU for giving me this idea!**


	18. Aurthors Note

Sorry guys! I have tendonitis, and I won't be able to update for a few weeks :-( !! Please forgive me!!!

Thanks to all of my readers, and especially reviews! You guys are awesome!! I love you!

shards-o-toast


	19. Decisions, decisions

**What's up everyone? I know it's been a long while since I updated…and I'm very sorry for that! I've just had major writer's block…so hopefully this chapter won't suck too much!**

**Ok, this chapter is kind of a filler, so that would explain why it's so short. And I promise that I will update with the next chapter sooner! (I'm already working on it.) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM. **

* * *

Taylor was in a peaceful night's sleep. She was dreaming about none other than Chad. In her dream, the two of them were out on a date to a fancy French restaurant. The weird part was that Chad was only speaking in French, and he was wearing bunny slippers. Taylor didn't care; she just loved being with him.

But then, a strange noise outside the door awoke her from her wonderful dream. She could hear the door rattling, random objects being dropped on the floor.

"What the crap? Whatever that noise is better be worth waking me up." Taylor lazily swung her legs out of bed, and went to the door. She stood on her toes, and looked through the door's peephole. She let out an annoyed sigh after her eyes focused on what was going on outside. Taylor grabbed the door handle, and swung the door open quickly, hoping to startle the hall's occupants, but her efforts were in vain.

Gabriella and Troy were in a tickling match, to the death. Troy had Gabriella pinned to the ground, and showed no mercy to her. Taylor dragged her feet over to Troy and Gabriella. They still didn't notice her. Taylor decided to take some action this time, and smacked Troy in the back on the head.

"Ow!" troy shouted.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Taylor said in an authoritative 'mom' tone.

Gabriella grabbed Troy's arm, and looked at his watch. "It's 12:37 am."

"That's correct. And do you have any idea what my bed time is?"

"Uh…I didn't know you had a bed time, Taylor." Troy said while helping Gabriella off the ground.

"Well, I don't. But I hate being woken up. Just ask Gabriella." Troy turned his head to Gabriella. She was shaking her head up and down.

"True story." Gabriella said.

"Ok, I guess I'll let you get back to sleep then, Taylor." Troy leaned into Gabriella, and gave her a kiss. He tried to deepen it, but Taylor cut him off.

"Ok, I've seen enough. It's been all to soon that I have to watch Gabriella smooch in the hall-"

"Uh…goodnight Troy!" Gabriella said quickly. She didn't want Taylor to finish her sentence.

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow." Troy said suspiciously. He flashed Gabriella a smile, and went off to the elevators.

Gabriella grabbed Taylor's arm, and dragged her into the room. "I can't believe you almost let that slip!" Gabriella exclaimed.

"Let what slip?" Taylor said with a yawn.

"You almost told Troy that you saw me kissing Ryan! He really doesn't need to know that!"

"Why not? Don't you think Troy should know that you're playing him?" Taylor said as she was lying down in her bed.

"No, because I've made up my mind about that situation." Gabriella sat on the edge of her bed. Taylor instantly sat up and stared at Gabriella.

"You're kidding me."

"Nope." There was a silence between the two.

"So…what's the verdict? Troy or Ryan?"

Gabriella paused a moment to think about what she was going to say. Taylor took a breath, and held it in. "I want to be with Troy."

Just then, Taylor exhaled in relief. "Good. As much as I like Ryan, I think you and Troy are better for each other."

"I'm glad you think so."

"What made you pick Troy?"

"Because of our date tonight. He really opened up to me, and was honest. I don't know…I guess something just clicked in my mind while we were talking."

"What made you decide?"

"When Troy and I were talking, I was thinking about us being together twenty years from now. I can't really see myself with Ryan like that."

"When are you going to tell Ryan?"

"Probably on Monday night, after work."

"I hope it doesn't get too awkward around the set for you guys." Taylor walked over and placed a reassuring hand on Gabriella's shoulder. "Now, just remember that I love you…and to never, ever wake me up again."

"You got it." Gabriella hugged Taylor, and then they both went to sleep.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! **

**Please leave a review! I love reading all of them!**

**PS: Sorry again for the freakin' long wait...**


	20. The possible break up, pt 1

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait again! I swear…being extremely busy sucks. My sincere apologies to any of you who are as busy as I am! This chapter is kinda short, too...but it's better than nothing!**

**Anyways, this chapter starts the Monday after Troy and Gabriella's date. So…enjoy…and leave me a review please! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM.**

* * *

Gabriella woke up very nervous this morning. Today was the day that she was going to 'break up' with Ryan. She went over everything in her mind about what she was going to say to him, as she got ready to go to work.

The taxicab ride to the set seemed especially long today. She dreaded having to get out of the cab. Gabriella was always the person who got dumped. She'd never had experience actually dumping someone. Gabriella didn't want to hurt Ryan. Ryan made her smile, and laugh. She honestly did like him a lot… just not as much as Troy.

It was time. The cab rolled to a stop, and Gabriella got out. She slowly walked to the entrance of the building, and opened the door. Gabriella felt like she was walking to her death sentence. She walked inside the studio, and started searching for Ryan. She saw his blonde hair across the room, going towards the costume trailer.

"Ryan!" Gabriella called after him. Ryan instantly smiled when he heard Gabriella's voice. He stopped, and turned around to greet her.

"Hey, Gabriella! How was your weekend?" He asked sincerely.

"Fine…can I talk to you?" Gabriella asked in a whisper. Ryan looked around the room a little bit.

"You are talking to me…" He answered back in a whisper.

"I mean in private." She whispered again.

"Oh…ok!" Ryan said in his normal voice. Gabriella took his hand, and pulled him to a room off the side of the costume trailer. The room was packed full of all the other costumes and props that weren't being used for the movie. Ryan and Gabriella were standing less than a foot away from each other.

"Ok…now I can talk to you." Gabriella said.

"It must be really important if you need to talk to me in private." Ryan said. He raised his left hand, and ran his fingers through Gabriella's hair. He then softly caressed the crook of her neck.

"It is…" Gabriella's mind completely went blank as soon as Ryan touched her. She closed her eyes and breathed in Ryan's alluring cologne. She placed her hand on his outstretched forearm. Her hand slowly made it's way up Ryan's arm, then down his toned chest. Ryan slowly leaned in towards Gabriella, and she stood on her toes to meet him in the middle.

"Dinner!" Gabriella abruptly said before the kiss. Ryan pulled his head away from Gabriella's, but kept his hand on her shoulder.

"Dinner?"

"Yes, you see-" Gabriella was interrupted by her vibrating cell phone. "Uh…hold that thought." Gabriella dug her cell phone out of her pocket, and turned around so her back was facing Ryan.

"Hello?" Gabriella said with a slight annoyed tone. "Yeah….hi, Taylor." Ryan started massaging Gabriella's neck and shoulders. "Yup…you caught me in a busy time. Nope… I don't remem-" By now, Ryan's hands were by Gabriella's waist, and he lowered his head, and started softly kissing her neck. "I don't- uh…" Gabriella completely lost her train of thought…again.

After a few moments of silence, Taylor got annoyed at Gabriella's inability to form sentences. "_Gabriella…Gabriella…"_ she said a bit louder. _"Gabriella!!"_

"Huh? Oh!" Gabriella quickly raised her phone back to her ear.

"_Gabriella, if that was Ryan making your mind go all fuzzy on me…well shame on you. I thought you were going to break things off with him." _Taylor said in a slight hushed tone.

"Well I was, but you interrupted me."

"I'm sure that's not the only thing I interrupted…"

"Taylor…don't worry about it. I have to go, okay?"

"Alright…bye." Gabriella closed her phone, and slipped it neck into her pocket. Gabriella turned back around to face Ryan.

"Ok…back to what I was saying before."

"Yes…you said something about dinner." Ryan said. His hold around Gabriella's waist tightened a bit.

"I want to ask you out to dinner for tonight."

"Well, it's kind of short notice…"

"Short notice?" Gabriella said in a slightly disappointed tone.

"Yeah, Troy's assistant, Angie already asked me out to dinner."

"Angie asked you out to dinner?" Gabriella asked. There was a pause between them, and Gabriella gave Ryan a questioning look.

"I was kidding! Quit looking at me like that!" Ryan said after he couldn't take Gabriella's death stare anymore.

"Good. I thought so. Pick me up at my hotel room at around 7:00."

"Wait…why can't we go right after we finish shooting today?"

"Because I need time to look pretty…and plus the reservation isn't until 7:45. Ok, I have to go and get ready…and you do too!"

"That's right. It's hair and make-up time…oh joy." Ryan said enthusiastically…not.

"Don't sound too excited." Gabriella said. She reached up, gave Ryan a peck on the cheek, and left the room.

Thanks for reading!

I have a feeling that this is going to be one of the last chapters, so make your reviews good!! Lol


	21. The Possible Break up, pt 2

**Wow. So, it's 2009 now, and I still haven't updated. My deepest and sincere apologies!!!!! I hope you all still read this story! Please enjoy, I know this update is LONG overdue! Forgive me!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM.**

Tired. Dread. Confusion. Gabriella was incredibly nervous for her upcoming date. The whole day of shooting, she only thought about what to say to Ryan during dinner. She walked do the hall to get in a cab to go back to the hotel.

"Gabriella! Wait up!" Troy called after her. "Are you ok?" he said after getting her attention.

"Uh…yeah. I'm fine." She supposed.

"Are you sure? You seemed really distracted today. I mean, you didn't know your lines that well…you just didn't really seem like yourself, I guess."

"Troy, I'm fine. I'm just tired, that's all. I'll see you later…" Gabriella got in a cab, and rode off to the hotel, leaving Troy standing there.

She couldn't describe the feelings that she felt. She leaned her head against the window, and looked out without paying any attention.

"Having troubles?" The old cab driver asked.

"Huh?"

"You look like you have many problems. A pretty girl like you shouldn't have so many problems."

"You have no idea." Gabriella said. She could feel the tears start to well up. After what seemed to be an eternity, they pulled up to the hotel. It was 6:30, and Ryan was going to come in half an hour for their date. Gabriella slumped up to her hotel room as she thought of how the night's dialogue would go.

"Hi Gabriella!" Taylor said when she walked into the room.

"Hey. Ryan is coming over in about half an hour. Can you help me get ready?"

"Sure…what's wrong?"

"I've never had to do this before...you know, break up with someone. It's really hard, I don't like it and I feel terrible for doing it!"

"Yeah, but you leading both him and Troy along is worse." Taylor said as she brushed Gabriella's hair.

"I guess…what am I going to say?"

"Just break it to him easy…you still have another couple of weeks of filming with Ryan. A messy break-up could be extremely awkward."

"Yeah…you're right."

* * *

**At the restaurant**

"Thanks for coming with me to dinner, Ryan." Gabriella said as the waiter delivered their meal.

"Hey, no problem. We don't get to spend as much time together as I wish we could." Ryan said.

"Yeah…" Gabriella said as she picked at her food. She was too nervous to eat.

"Is something wrong? You've been really distracted all day."

Gabriella put down her fork. "There's something that I need to talk to you about." She said in a tense tone.

"Uh…ok. You can talk anything, you know that."

"Of course, but it doesn't make me any less nervous."

"Nervous? Gabriella, what's wrong?" Ryan pushed his plate to the side, and reached out to grab Gabriella's hand.

"You know what? We don't have to talk about this now. It can wait." She said reluctantly. Gabriella knew that she just chickened out. She just needed more time to think about what she was going to say to him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I want to finish dinner first."

"Ok, sure thing."

They kept eating, talking about the movie, and the other actors they worked with. It wasn't as awkward as Gabriella thought it was going to be.

"That was really good." Ryan said getting up from the table. He waited for Gabriella to stand, and they both headed for the door.

"Hey, look! No paparazzi this time!" Gabriella said as they exited the restaurant.

"Wow, I'm surprised."

"Me too." Gabriella agreed. "Do you want to go on a walk? We should go to that park we went to last time," she asked.

"Sure sounds like fun." They started down the street on the way to the park. Luckily it was close to the restaurant.

"So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Ryan asked when they got to the park. Gabriella headed for the swings, and Ryan followed.

She opened her mouth to speak, but no works came out. After a few moments, she finally formed a sentence in her head.

"I'm so glad that we got to spend so much time together these past few weeks." She said staring straight into Ryan's eyes. "We've had so much fun laughing and hanging out, and you've made me so happy, and relaxed."

"I've had a lot of fun, too."

"You're such a great guy, Ryan. You're…you're…I don't know…" Gabriella got off the swing and walked over to a picnic table. She ran her hand through her hair, trying to figure out what to say. It was starting to get dark outside.

"I'm what? Just say it Gabriella. It's ok." Ryan said as he walked toward her.

"You're funny, you're smart, charming, confident, charismatic, talented, sensitive, you're a really good kisser, you have such a beautiful voice, and you have a way of making someone feel really important and wanted."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you're practically the perfect man. And you're exactly the kind of guy that I could fall in love with." Ryan smiled a little. "That's the thing…"

The smile drifted from Ryan's face. "What do you mean?"

"I can't let myself fall in love with you."

"Why not? We could be so great together, Gabriella."

"Because…"Gabriella paused. This was it. This was the moment that would really hurt Ryan. "Because I think I'm already in love with someone else." There was a pause. Ryan had to sort through all of the thoughts that were rushing in his head.

"It's Troy, isn't it?"

"Yeah." She said, breaking eye contact. Ryan stared at the ground. There was another awkward pause between the two of them.

"Why?" Ryan clenched a fist.

"Why what?"

"Why do you love Troy?"

"I'm not sure. It's just a feeling I get when we're together..."

"This is the guy who left your heart broken seven years ago at your high school graduation. He just left without any explanation. This was your 'first love', and he completely ignored you for seven entire years. This is the same guy who was a complete jerk to you when you first met." Ryan stood up to try to control his budding anger.

"Ryan-"

"I'm the guy who stood by you when he, and every boyfriend since Troy broke up with you. I'm the guy who has always cared for you; from the very moment I first met you. I'm the one who wants the best for you. I'm the one who will go any distance to get the best for you. I've been waiting, and waiting for the chance to finally tell you how I really feel." Ryan took a deep breath. He reached his hand out towards Gabriella. She placed her hand in his, and stood up. The tone in his voice softened. "I get that same feeling each and every time I'm with you, Gabriella. I love you, a lot. I just never thought I would actually tell you when you were 'breaking up' with me."

"Wow." Ryan left Gabriella speechless.

"And it's because I love you so much, I will bow out with dignity. I won't bother the two of you. But, if he ever hurts you, ever, you can expect that I will step back in to the equation."

"Ryan, you really are the perfect man."

"I only have one last request." He said as he took both of her hands.

"What's that?"

"One more kiss…" Ryan leaned in and gave a very powerful and passionate kiss that surprised Gabriella. She closed her eyes, and returned the passion.

Suddenly there was a click, and flash of light. _That's weird…I wonder what that was…_ Then there was another. Gabriella exactly what it was the second time. She opened her eyes and broke the kiss, and a flood of camera flashes erupted. _Oh CRAP!!_

* * *

**Ok…that's it for this chapter! Don't hate me! I had to spice up the storyline somehow. I promise, everything will work out in the end…which is very soon.**

**Again, I'm really sorry for procrastinating and waiting months to update! On the bright side, tomorrow is my 2-year anniversary for this story! I know what you're thinking, and yes, I agree. I should have been done with the story a year and a half ago. Eh…as is life. Ok…I'll stop rambling. **

**Review please!! **

* * *


End file.
